Snake Slaughter
by EOsman
Summary: Target: Snakeheads. Alpha Force are a crack team dedicated to fighting injustice across the globe. While in China, they learn of a human trafficking scam and strive to end it once and for all. This time, there's more than just their lives on the line... (SET AFTER UNTOUCHABLE, FINAL ALPHA FORCE NOVEL). Li&Paulo/Amber&Hex relationships included.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

Amber was sick and tired of just sitting in the car. It wasn't fair she had been chosen for this job while the others were out actually doing something. Hex sat next to her, his eyes locked on the screen as he typed. Earlier she had watched him fondly, but now even her affection had been overcome by impatience. 'What time is it?' asked Amber irritably. Hex lifted his green eyes from the screen to glare at her. 'You asked that two minutes ago.'  
She scowled, slumping back in her seat. 'Just humor me, will you?'

Hex's eyes softened as he noted her impatience. If he hadn't been a loner by nature, he would probably have felt exactly the same. Alex, Paulo and Li were out in the field, roaming the streets of Shengmei, China, and searching for one man in particular – Ricky Chang.

Ever since being stranded on one of the many islands scattered around Indonesia, they had become a tight knit team. They had come from different corners of the world, only having been dragged together for what had been called "the trip of a lifetime". They found themselves on a boat named _The Phoenix_ in the sea of Indonesia under the name of A-Watch. Rich girl Amber and code-loving Hex had hated each other more than anything, and their fighting wore down the patience of everyone else on the ship. Li and Paulo flirted more than they did their work, and Alex had separated himself from the group, unwilling to get in trouble because of the foolish antics of the others in his team. At the time, it had seemed impossible for a strong, trust-worthy team to be made out from them, but after falling asleep together on the lifeboat after a forbidden meal, they woke up and found themselves stranded in the middle of a turquoise sea. After they had landed on a deserted island, they found they were forced to rely on each other's skills – and that mentality had stuck ever since.  
Hex shuddered as he recalled the terrifying, never-ending days on that island. He had been bitten by a komodo dragon and the whole team had had to fight to keep him alive, carrying him across half the island to find only a trio of pirates and a family of prisoners waiting for them. The man of the family was Phillip Larrousse, a rich surgeon who owned the yacht the pirates had hijacked, and they had managed to save him, his wife and his two children from possible death. They had also managed to call for help from his yacht, which Amber had bravely swum to, hardly missing a fierce encounter with a group of sharks. In the end, Amber's uncle John Middleton saved them. After all they had been through together, they had decided not to break up and return back to their normal lives, but instead managed to encourage Amber's uncle to allow them to continue on with the work Amber's parents had been doing before their untimely death. Together, they named themselves Alpha Force. The label was made up from their first initials: Alex, Li, Paulo, Hex and Amber. And with every approaching holiday, the five teenagers eagerly awaited seeing each other again to embark on another mission and to right everything that was wrong. It was their job – even though John Middleton usually didn't know the half of it.

This holiday was different from the others. This time they weren't taking a break from school; rather, they were meeting up after their first years of adulthood. After their last successful mission in the highlands of Scotland, where they'd been stationed to run a week's worth of activities for troubled kids but ended up instead chasing members of a drug scam, they'd returned to their homes to continue on with their lives: Amber had gone to university in Boston so she'd have the skills to lead her parents' company; Hex had retreated back to London where he'd attended the Imperial College to study IT and computer science; Alex had joined his first year of the military; Paulo had returned to Argentina to his family ranch which he hoped to run on his own someday; and, finally, Li had gone travelling like her parents had, rock climbing and visiting zoological sites all over the world. Currently, she was stationed nearby her uncle's traditional martial arts school, learning the trade so she could take over the teaching. Although Alpha Force had initially hoped they'd continue working together in the future, they were more likely to do well in their own trades and continue only meeting up during the holidays.

This year, on their first holiday after leaving school, they had met up to come to China so that they could volunteer in one of the poor local institutes and teach English to the students. It had been Li's idea, as she had heard about the small school from her uncle. After they finished with the school they would go to Li's temporary home in the countryside and spend the rest of their holiday rock climbing and learning martial arts in her uncle's traditional institute. They'd all been excited for the chance and had hoped that for once they'd be able to stay out of trouble and keep Amber's uncle happy.  
Unfortunately, that hadn't worked out so well. On their second day working at the school they found out about Ricky Chang, a trafficker alike to the Scorpion whom they had met in Africa and had left dead at the bottom of a well in a local desert village. They'd found out about Chang when one of the children in their class had gone missing. When they asked one of the other students about it he simply said his friend was going to America to work. Which, from past experience, Alpha Force knew was fishy. Hex, on his ever humble and efficient state-of-the-art palmtop, had found out the rest from his online friends. Ricky Chang was a well-known human trafficker, though he was rich enough to stay out of trouble. He trafficked any locals who came to him for help and they never ended up where they expected to. Like the Scorpion's trafficked children, they wound up in slavery or absolute poverty, in worse conditions than they had been before. Often they were stuck their whole lives trying to pay Chang back for the expenses of trafficking them, which was why he was so rich in the first place.  
Ricky Chang, unlike the Scorpion, didn't rely on lies to steal people away from their homes and force them into slavery. He was stealthy and in control; he stole them away in the darkness and set them on ships due to depart at dawn, heading to places only he knew.  
Ricky Chang was a snakehead. And he knew exactly what he was doing.

Now, Amber shifted uncomfortably in her seat and looked out of the window. 'So where are they now? Do you think they'll find him?'  
'Wait…' Hex tailed off, his eyes following the three tracer dots as they moved across the screen. 'They're stopping.'  
Amber twitched impatiently and tried to stay in her seat, half of her aching to move over towards Hex and look over his shoulder at the screen and see what was happening. 'They've stopped at a café,' said Hex finally. 'Maybe Chang's in there.'  
Amber sat up straight, wondering if there was a chance she could do something to help. 'What's this café called?'  
'Taeng Fong.' Amber nodded and started to climb over into the driver's seat, but Hex groaned. 'No, please don't. Your driving's going to make me lose my breakfast.'  
Amber shot him a glower over her shoulder, climbing fully behind the wheel and buckling her seatbelt. 'Shut up, code boy, and strap yourself in. This is going to be a bumpy ride.'

* * *

Alex leaned back in his chair, trying to look like a curious tourist, but nothing he did was going to stop the café workers from staring at his fair Northumbrian looks. Paulo's easy, laid-back Argentinean attitude wasn't helping him much, either. Only Li didn't stand out, her fine-boned Anglo-Chinese features fitting her in with the rest of the crowd. They all wore holiday clothes and backpacks to assist on their tourist cover and had been walking through the village for two hours before they spotted Ricky Chang sitting in the dark corner of Taeng Fong café, looking as if he was waiting for an appointment. He kept on looking their way, which wasn't helping with their cover, and they kept looking his, searching for whoever might be joining him. 'This is boring,' sighed Li, reading through a paper menu.  
'Would you prefer to be stuck in a car for a couple hours?' asked Alex.  
'Of course I don't!' exclaimed Li. 'But I want some action!'  
Alex shot her a warning look and she lowered her voice. 'He's not doing anything, and neither are we.' She cast a disapproving look at him and Paulo. 'And you two are sticking out like sore thumbs.'  
'But in a good way, yes?' asked Paulo, raking his dark curls back from his handsome face with a grin. Li rolled her eyes. 'Either way, you're standing out, and you need to fix it. Obviously they don't get many tourists here.'  
'I'm not sure there's much we can do,' said Alex. 'Unless I dye my hair black and wear contacts. And if Paulo powders his skin white and shrinks a few inches.'  
'Shrink?' asked Paulo, looking shocked. 'No way!'  
'Let's just order,' muttered Li, but she couldn't hide the smile which turned up the corners of her mouth. She lifted her hand to call for a waiter and a young man hurried over to get their order. 'You guys having coffee?' she asked Paulo and Alex.  
They nodded their agreement. When the waiter arrived at their table, Li asked for four coffees in Chinese and watched as he hastened to write their orders down. When he had finished, she glanced back over her shoulder to where Ricky was sitting and frowned up at the waiter. 'Who's he?' Alex and Paulo's eyebrows raised, wondering what she was asking. The waiter looked back at Ricky's table nervously. 'His name is Ricky Chang. He's a frequent visitor here.'  
'Well, he keeps staring,' said Li, trying to sound annoyed. The waiter didn't seem to know how to answer her. 'I'll get your order,' he replied quickly. Then he gathered up their menus and walked stiffly away. Li turned back to the table and both Alex and Paulo stared at her, waiting for her to tell them what she and the waiter had talked about. 'It's definitely Ricky,' said Li, her voice lowered. Paulo glanced over her shoulder and saw Ricky staring back at him while sipping tea, his eyes narrowed. He quickly looked away. 'I think he is suspicious of us,' whispered Paulo.  
'Well thanks for that, Sherlock.' Li rolled her eyes again.  
'I think we should leave after this drink,' said Alex in a low voice, looking uncomfortable. Both Li and Paulo looked over at him. 'Why? What is it?' asked Li.  
'Because two big men appeared over there,' he said, nodding towards the other side of the road, where two men had walked up and were simply standing and watching the café. 'I don't like the look of them.'  
'Hex and Amber have got our backs if we get into trouble,' murmured Li, fingering the locket she wore around her neck, inside of which a tracker device was hidden. The boys had identical tracking devices, though they were hidden in their belts. The devices had been handy in many other situations and they had all come to rely on them very much. 'Yes, I know, but not everyone likes getting into fights,' Alex said, sending her a pointed look. Although Li was short and slight to the point of looking fragile, she was a professional in martial arts and free climbing, so her muscles were stronger than anyone else's in the team. She was also an adrenaline junkie, so she hardly ever seemed to run out of energy and jumped into situations without thinking first. She shrugged, but her eyes didn't leave the two men across the street, as if she were sizing them up, wondering which was the best way to take them down. Paulo, at her side, turned his head slightly so it looked like he was looking at Li, but was actually staring across the café at Ricky Chang. Ricky didn't notice him looking, and had pulled a mobile phone out of his pocket, keying in a number before lifting it to his ear.  
'He's gotten out his phone,' whispered Li excitedly. Paulo was about to say he already knew – he was watching, but then realized she was looking at the two huge guys on the other side of the street instead of Ricky.

So they were definitely Ricky's men.

He turned so he could watch them. The biggest man had started speaking, his eyes focused on them. Alex tensed, and Li saw his hand hover near where his well-sharpened knife usually hung at his belt. Unfortunately, he had left it along with his survival tin back in the car with Amber and Hex.  
Two minutes later the man seemed to finish the phone conversation and he turned to speak a few words to his companion. They both nodded and then started across the street towards the café. 'Sure you want to wait until after the drinks have come, _amigo_?' asked Paulo, casting his even gaze over to Alex. Alex didn't answer, simply watching as the two men stopped on the pavement hardly five metres away, then walked up to the café and took the table behind them. For a long moment none of them said anything, feeling the men's eyes burning on the backs of their necks. Then, the waiter arrived with their coffee, saving the day.

Paulo immediately sipped his, only wincing slightly as the burning liquid passed down his throat. Li and Alex waited for theirs to cool down, as they didn't have as high a tolerance for hot or spicy things like Paulo did.

Alex felt his phone begin to vibrate in his pocket and grimaced, hearing the creaks on the chairs behind them as the two men leaned in closer to see if he was going to answer or not. It was most likely Amber, calling on the forty five minute check. He froze, and could feel Li's and Paulo's eyes on him. He could either ignore it and save himself from giving away any decipherable information to the two men listening, but get Amber worried, or just answer and try to be as vague with details as possible. He closed his eyes for a long minute, and was about to reach his hand into his pocket to answer, but it had already stopped vibrating. He opened his eyes and almost flinched, startled at the sudden appearance of Ricky Chang by his shoulder. Both Li and Paulo were staring at him with wide eyes.  
'Are you going to answer that?' asked Chang in slightly accented English. Alex swallowed and then broke into an easy smile. 'No, it's just a call from a friend – I told him I would speak to him tonight, but I suppose he doesn't understand the time difference.'  
Ricky Chang stared at him for a long second and then smiled back politely. 'Of course. I've often had problems like that.' His smile didn't quite reach the dull black of his eyes. He held out a hand politely. 'Ricky Chang.'  
Alex wasn't sure what to do for a long moment, then, of its own accord, his own hand reached out and took Ricky's. 'Alex,' he said, mentally scolding himself the moment after he spoke. He shouldn't have given the man his real name. Ricky turned to Li and Paulo and shook their hands as well, but unlike Alex, they didn't speak their names. 'Obviously, you are not from here. The staff are talking about you a lot,' said Ricky. 'Are you visiting on holiday?'  
'Yes. We decided we wanted to experience more of the culture,' said Paulo, smiling with his usual dazzling Latino charm and leaning back in his chair in a relaxed manner. Ricky smiled back and looked down at his watch. 'Well, I've got to go. I've got a meeting to attend to. But it was nice meeting you all.' A flicker of an indecipherable emotion crossed his face, but it was gone by the time he looked up at them. 'I hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday.'  
'Thank you,' said Alex, smiling warmly in his best impression of a clueless tourist, ignoring the snake-like stealth in Chang's last sentence. He knew that as soon as Ricky had departed the men behind them would make their move. Ricky nodded at them, then turned and walked out of the café, briefcase in hand. Li stared after him, her face twisted with disgust and hate. 'We've got to go after him!' she hissed quietly so the two bodyguards wouldn't hear. 'He acts so calm! And I think we all know it's not a normal meeting he's attending.'  
'Li, it's all right. We have time,' said Paulo, resting a hand on her arm reassuringly.  
'They're not leaving,' Alex informed them.  
'What? Who?' asked Paulo, looking bewildered.  
'The two men behind us. They're still here,' replied Alex through clenched teeth.  
'Well, I have finished my coffee,' he said after a long pause. 'Have you?' Alex looked down at his cup and lifted it to his mouth, draining the rich dark drink before setting his empty cup back on the table. 'Now I have, yes.'  
'Li?'  
Her voice was tight. 'Yes. Finished.'  
'Then let's go,' said Paulo, standing up slowly in a relaxed manner, stretching his back. Alex tried to do the same, but his muscles felt stiff and achy. Li jumped to her feet energetically. 'Where to next?' she asked.  
'I don't know. Let's just follow the road,' replied Alex. He could feel the men frowning behind him as they considered whether to buy their tourist act or not. He left a wad of Chinese Yuan on the table, and together they walked out of the café. As they started off down the road, he heard the two men scrape back their chairs as well and mutter their goodbyes as they left the café. Alex shared a look with Li and Paulo. The same thought was fluttering in each of their minds: They were in trouble.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Amber turned and frowned at Hex. 'He didn't answer his phone.'  
'Maybe he put it on silent,' murmured Hex, still watching the tracers on the screen. His comment did nothing to ease her worrying. 'I doubt that,' said Amber, but Hex wasn't finished. 'Or…' He turned the screen of his palmtop towards her so she could see the three dots moving away from the café. 'They couldn't answer because their case was blown. And the only reason they could be walking so quickly is because they're being followed.'  
'Followed? By who? By Ricky? He doesn't seem the stalking type.'  
'You're right. He doesn't. I don't think it is him.' Hex's hands paused over the keyboard thoughtfully. 'A man as powerful and as rich as he is must have hired a few people to get all the dirty jobs done.'  
'So they're being followed by assassins?'  
'I never said that.'  
'Well, make yourself clearer then,' muttered Amber, irritated. 'I don't speak code.'  
'Why don't you concentrate on driving on the road instead of the sidewalk and leave the figuring out to me?' drawled Hex. Amber rolled her eyes and turned back to her driving. 'You're lucky I'm wearing my seatbelt right now, code boy, or I'd be in the back and your precious little palmtop would be in pieces on the floor.'  
'No it wouldn't,' said Hex smoothly, not missing a beat, 'Because it's the only way to know where our friends are.'Amber sighed, finding she had no answer to counter his with. 'Fine. Whatever. Just tell me what street they're on so we can go and pick them up.'

Hex smiled. Over the years Alpha Force had been together he had grown used to Amber's snooty rich girl attitude, and was nearly up to the point where he could write a book about how to counter her insults. Though she had been his arch enemy at one point in the past, they were now closer than they both wanted to admit. Li had teased them both enough about their fondness for each other; they didn't want to give her anything else to use against them.

'Jasmine Road,' he said after a quick look at the map. Amber nodded and turned right onto the next street, automatically typing the street name into the GPS. She was Alpha Force's navigation expert, as she had been learning how to navigate on her parent's yacht from a young age. When her parents died in a plane crash years before, she had become sad and quiet, though her rich snobbiness had never quite left her. When Alpha Force had come together for the first time on _The Phoenix_ , a boat created in memory of her parents, she had been wearing their rings beaten into the sign of omega around her neck. Omega: the end. After their survival and rescue on the island, they'd decided to create Alpha Force as a new beginning. They took over the work her parents had died doing, and still worked with it to fight injustice. Hex had only been on the cruise because he had hacked into his little brother's gym teacher's email and altered a few things. As punishment, he was sent on the trip, though it turned out to be much better than he had thought it would, and he earned four new friends from it. Now, hacking was his job, and he was glad for it. He was more at home on the net than in his house in London, and nothing would ever change that – even Amber's endless complaining.

With the map now displayed on the GPS screen, Amber began to follow the streets towards Jasmine Road. Hex looked up once from his palmtop to see a concentrated look on her beautiful ebony face as she focused on the road, and smiled inwardly. Though he acted as if she was a nuisance most of the time, he really did enjoy her company.  
'We're getting close,' said Amber after a moment, oblivious to his gaze. Hex quickly snapped his eyes back down to the screen of his palmtop and watched as the three red dots stopped in an alleyway just off Jasmine Road. He relayed this information to Amber and her mouth tightened, but she didn't say a word. She hoped they would get there in time.

* * *

They had walked for a long time, attempting to look carefree and curious like the tourists they were pretending to be, but nothing they did seemed to shake the two men off their tail. Li felt the hairs prickle on the back of her neck every now and then as she walked, and wished there was a way to stop those eyes from staring at her. Paulo walked so close to her that his arm brushed against hers with every step. She was glad for his nearness, but was starting to feel closed in as she was pushed closer to Alex. After about five minutes of steady walking, she glanced back to see the pavement behind them empty. The men had disappeared. She nudged Alex and Paulo and they glanced back too, but they didn't stop just yet. They kept on walking for a few more minutes just to make sure the men weren't coming back and then turned into an alley, heading back to the point they had been dropped off earlier in the day.  
They hardly made it past the mouth of the alley.

Gangly figures seemed to appear out of the shadows, grasping their arms with grips like iron and dragging them back. Li saw the two earlier men restraining Alex and Paulo, but wasn't sure who was tightening her arms behind her. She started to struggle, but stopped when she felt the cold barrel of a gun pressed against her head.

Paulo stopped struggling the moment he saw the gun and stared in horror as the tall, powerful figure clicked off the safety and twitched his finger as if to press the trigger. His arm came up around Li's neck tightly and she stumbled back against him, her eyes filled with rage. 'Do not move. Use your friend as a good example.' Paulo looked sideways and saw Alex standing still, his eyes locked on the gun. Paulo returned his eyes to Li and tried to jerk his arm out of his assailant's grip, but he was only restrained tighter – the old gunshot wound from last year throbbed and he winced. The gunman laughed, his voice deep and booming, reverberating off the pale concrete walls of the alley. 'Now, now, I don't want to hurt you.'  
'I doubt that,' growled Alex.  
'Well, I wouldn't mind hurting her to bend you to my will, but I have no wish to harm you in particular.'  
'So you work for Ricky-' managed Li, her voice choked off at the end of the sentence as the man's arm tightened around her neck. He glared down at her and knocked the side of her head with the gun gently, as if to remind her it was there. 'Just because you're about to die doesn't mean I'm going to willingly give up everything I know. This isn't a movie or a book. This is real life.'  
'You work with him, don't you?' asked Alex. What he could see of the man's face twisted into a sneer. 'With him? Now why would you say that?'  
'Because you're not one of the two men who were following us. I don't know where you came from, but it's obvious you work with them. And you seem to be the leader, so I suppose you've got higher status. When they disappeared, they must have gone to get you. To help them finish the job.'  
'Well, you're quite perceptive, aren't you?' The man grinned. 'And all of you are very good at hiding your true identities. But not good enough. There's definitely something behind this – something more than you just not minding your own business. See? I'm perceptive too. We're not all that different.' He lowered his voice. 'Now, I was asked to question you about what you were doing watching Ricky in that café. Why are you following him?'

Paulo felt the man's eyes on him but didn't speak, watching Li instead. She mouthed something at him and he inclined his head slightly. The man frowned, and looked from him to Li, pulling the gun away from her head for a second. That was all she needed.

She suddenly bent forwards, butting him in the legs and loosening his arm around her throat, which she grabbed and twisted around, slamming against the wall. She then elbowed him in the solar plexus, and while he was bent over in pain, she spun and lifted her knee up to his face, hearing the crunch as his nose broke and blood began to gush down his face. He growled and straightened up, launching himself at her, but she leapt away nimbly, noting Alex and Paulo by her side also unleashing their fists and feet on their assailants. As he turned around, Li dropped to a crouch and swept a leg out from under her, knocking her attacker's legs out from under him and sending him crashing to the floor. Kneeling on his chest, one knee pressed against his neck, she ripped the gun out from his right hand and held it to his forehead. 'Who are you?' hissed Li.

He only laughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood. 'Some things are meant to be kept secret, Li Cheong.'  
She raised her eyebrows, shocked to hear her name come from this stranger's mouth. Now she could see him properly, she found his features quite familiar. She was certain she had seen them before, but wasn't sure where. 'You recognize me,' said the man. He laughed again, a painful raspy sound, and she lost her patience, bringing the butt of the gun down on the side of his head, which resonated with a loud crack, his head lolling to one side. Before she even had a chance to get up, strong arms grabbed her from behind. She pulled against them angrily, spinning herself around and managing to dislodge the arms from around her waist, her fists clenched and ready to launch at her new assailant -

'Hey!' Paulo held his arms up in front of his face, looking surprised and a little hurt. She lowered her arms immediately, brushing strands of inky black hair out of her face. 'Sorry. I thought you were…'  
'It's fine. My fault,' said Paulo, reassuring her with an easy grin. 'Are you okay?'  
'Fine. Where's Alex?'  
'Here.' She looked past Paulo to see Alex standing by the mouth of the alley and breathed out a sigh of relief. 'Where are the other two of Ricky's men?'  
'Catching some sleep,' said Paulo. She saw them both lying against the wall. 'How?' Alex held up a metal water bottle, which was now dented and slightly red with blood. 'My bag broke and this fell out. I never thought it would come in handy.'  
She giggled despite herself, picturing Alex beating up the poor men with a water bottle. 'Your bag broke? I thought you were always the one with the indestructible luggage.'  
'No, that was only his bergen,' remarked Paulo, grinning. He was referring to the bergen Alex had used several holidays ago in Belize. His bergen had survived both a falling tree in the rainforest and an earthquake, and all of his friends had marveled at its luck. 'I think we had better get going. Amber and Hex are probably wondering why we're standing still-'

His last words were cut off as a silver SUV jerked to a stop at the end of the alley and Hex's irritated voice snapped at the driver to stop trying to kill the pavement. The driver door opened and Amber climbed out quickly, her face flooding with relief when she saw Alex, Paulo and Li all safe and uninjured.  
'Thank God you're all here,' drawled Hex behind her, climbing out from the back seat. 'I don't believe Amber was telling the truth when she said she got her driver's license.'

She cuffed him around the head and he ducked away, smirking.  
'Shut up, Hex,' said Amber. She caught sight of the three men lying in the alley, her dark eyes widening a fraction. 'Are they dead?'  
Alex shrugged and held out his metal water bottle. She stared down at it. 'Why are you giving that to me?'  
'I don't know. I thought maybe you needed a closer look to see the brains and blood.'  
'What? You beat them up that bad?' she exclaimed, stepping backwards in disgust. Alex grinned at her distaste and lowered the bottle. 'No. Well, we did beat them up pretty bad, but I don't think they're dead. And I don't think Li's is either.'  
'No. I just knocked him out,' agreed Li.  
'Well, are we just gonna leave them here?'  
'Yes, actually. We are,' said Hex, smiling as he picked up his phone. He handed it to Li. 'Can you tell the police that these three men got into a fight? Say we just came across it while on a walk. I can bet you that none of these men will leave the police station for the next few years.' Li nodded and started speaking into the phone rapidly, her voice high and shocked as if she was in panic. The police bought it, it seemed, and she slowed her torrent of Chinese so that they could understand. Finally, after giving them directions, she ended the call and handed the phone to Hex. 'All right,' said Alex. 'Let's get out of here.' He thought for a moment, and then dropped his bloodied water bottle on the ground beside the leader of the trio. He then picked up his broken bag and climbed into the SUV with the rest of Alpha Force.

Paulo switched the gear to reverse and backed smoothly away from the alley and on to the road. Hex made another sarcastic comment about Amber's driving and she reached over Li to slap him. He managed to flatten himself against the window to avoid her hand, but her shoe hit his shin before he had time to avoid it and he swore loudly. As they drove back to the hotel, all of Alpha Force was grinning.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

After she had showered and injected her insulin - Amber was a diabetic, but she didn't let that cramp her style - she joined Alex, Li, Paulo and Hex in the boys' room. The room was unusually silent. Li, who was lying back on Paulo's bed, her inky black hair fanned out around her, seemed to be the cause of this. Usually she was nearly bouncing up and down and filling the silence with her voice, but instead she was staring up at the ceiling, a thoughtful look on her face.

The boys were all clustered around Hex's palmtop, watching him scroll down a website, pointing out facts to him and earning glares. Hex didn't like anyone telling him what to do on his palmtop. The thought made Amber smile. She sat down on the bed beside Li, and cleared her throat. 'So? Are all you geeks going to come over here and talk?'

Paulo and Alex turned to look at her, then slowly slid off Hex's bed and walked over, but Hex stayed planted on his pillow, his eyes fixed on the screen. Amber rolled her eyes. 'Come on, code boy. By geek I obviously meant you in particular.' Hex shut his palmtop and carried it over to sit on Alex's bed next to Alex and Paulo. 'So Ricky Chang knows what you three look like,' started Amber.

'Yes. He knew we were on to him – that's for sure,' said Paulo.

'So what's our next move?'

'Well, we already know how Ricky traffics people,' said Hex thoughtfully. 'He doesn't go to people; they come to him. And he sends them in little company vans to the coast, where they're all put on a big boat which ships them off to America or wherever they want to go. There, they become slaves, or even prostitutes, forced to keep those jobs until they've paid Ricky off. Sometimes they end up paying for their whole lives. Since he already has people in China to help him out on this end, there must be others to receive on the other end. Other traffickers. Everyone involved in the transport of these people is a criminal, and it's likely they all know Ricky in some way or another.'

'So our next move is to get more details on the transport and the people involved?' suggested Paulo.

'That would help, yes. But we don't have anyone who would…' Hex tailed off and they all looked at Li. She didn't seem to notice the silence and was still staring up at the ceiling. Normally, she would respond to a job with enthusiasm and excitement, but there was nothing. 'Li?' asked Paulo worriedly. Ever since their fight in the alley, she hadn't been acting quite like herself. Her eyes suddenly flickered towards him and she sat up. 'I'll do it.'

'Are you sure?' asked Paulo. 'You are not acting like yourself. And besides, Ricky saw you today and knows what you look like.'

'Of course I'm sure, you idiot,' she said, grinning at him. 'When am I not? I'll dress up in rags and dirty my face a little bit so he won't notice me. Then I can go undercover and pretend to be a young girl looking for work in America or something, and you guys can follow me on my journey. It's just like with the Scorpion. And I was fine then, wasn't I?'

There was an awkward silence as they all remembered her lying by the well, her blood surrounding her in a pool. No, she hadn't been fine. She sighed. 'I'll be okay. You'll all know I'm doing it this time, so you can follow me and keep track of me.'

'It is a good idea,' Alex admitted.

'Just like it was with the Scorpion?' Paulo asked pointedly, casting a dark glance in Alex's direction. It had been Alex who had let Li go undercover as a boy named Liang in the first place. Paulo had socked him a big one when he found out. But they had all known that once Li got something into her mind, no one could change it. 'We'll have more control this time, mate,' Alex reassured him. 'And we've all learnt from our lessons. There's no way we can make the same mistakes.'

'There's always space for new ones,' said Paulo quietly.

'Paulo, I'll be fine,' said Li, almost sounding like her old self again. 'I swear. And who else can go in there other than me? I'm the only oriental-looking person in this group.'

'I could shrink a few inches and powder my skin white,' said Paulo, shrugging. Amber giggled at the prospect, and soon Li joined in. After a long moment, the whole of Alpha Force was laughing at the picture of Paulo undercover as a young Chinese man. It was just completely and utterly impossible. After the laughing, they were more at ease, but Paulo still worried about Li. Fine, the mission may work out great, but what about her? There was something going on, and he wanted to find out what.

* * *

The next morning, Li dressed into a new costume of rags, messed up her hair, and allowed Amber to fuss over her. She was excited about going undercover again. Trouble had always been exciting for her. But today was different. With all the worrying from yesterday still in her mind and Paulo hanging around like a concerned mother, she was beginning to feel nervous. She still couldn't shake that man out of her mind – the man who had known her name and had looked so familiar to her. She was still trying to find out how and where she knew him from, and the not knowing was driving her crazy. By the time they all piled into the car, she looked like a messy local orphan, and her nerves were tingling in anticipation of what was to come. They drove around Shengmei for a little bit and then dropped her off at the house Hex had researched about the night before. It was apparently where all locals went when looking for Ricky the snakehead. Before she got out of the car, Paulo caught her arm. 'Are you sure you are all right?' he asked. She was grateful that he had asked, and for a second all she wanted to do was tell him about that familiar man's face and his knowledge of her name, but she didn't. Although since they'd grown older she and Paulo had become much closer, there were still some things she felt she couldn't tell him. Instead, she squeezed his hand, hugged him, and then climbed out, hunching her slight shoulders and walking up to the house with a depressed drag in her step.

Alex marveled at her sudden change in emotion and action. She really was a good actress. He pushed the car into drive and it purred off down the street, turning onto the next road where he parked next to a small corrupt shop and they all hunkered down to wait and listen. Hex had the headphones on, and was listening to the sounds and voices he could hear through her locket. Amber was watching him intently, apparently deciding that reading his expressions as he listened would help pass the time.

Alex and Paulo gazed out of the windows and watched villagers wander and work through town, some cooking rice and chicken in huge woks, others weaving leaves together into mats, and a few topless men carrying long planks of wood from a squat little building into a blue truck which was idling outside. It was a nice atmosphere, but Paulo was finding it hard to enjoy it while Li was heading into danger yet again. He shouldn't have let her go undercover. What made it worse was the look that had passed on her face when he asked her if she was alright before she got out of the car. There was something wrong, and he was afraid it might get her in trouble and he wouldn't be there to help her. He didn't want her to end up stabbed again, or sold into slavery.

'She'll be fine, mate,' said Alex by his side, noting the worried expression on his face. 'You know she can get herself well out of trouble when she needs to.' Paulo smiled and nodded. 'Yes, she can.'

'She's inside,' said Hex suddenly. Amber, Paulo and Alex all leaned in to listen.

* * *

The moment Li arrived at the door, the car had already turned the corner and disappeared from sight. She knocked lightly at first and glanced around her, taking in the short, tamed grass and flowerbeds of the garden and the neat brickwork and white paint which made up Ricky's house. She knocked again and heard a sharp shout - undeniably Ricky's voice - telling someone to open the door. Loud footsteps stomped inside the house and she stepped back quickly, trying to look afraid and nervous, though she was truthfully feeling a little more anger flare up after she heard the snakehead's low baritone. She would be very glad when he ended up in jail. The door was yanked open and she stared up at the tall man blocking her view of the house. He sighed and turned back to let her in. He called into the hallway, 'Another customer, Mr. Chang,' in English. Li supposed they decidedly didn't speak in Chinese so that the locals wouldn't understand them. They didn't fool her. Ricky replied immediately: 'He or she?'

'She, Mr. Chang.'

'Does she look like she can work? I don't want my time wasted.'

'She's small and thin, but…' the man trailed off and lifted one of her arms abruptly, squeezing it to test the muscles. 'I believe she is stronger than she looks.' Li tried not to yank her arm away from his grip and patiently waited for him to drop her and rest his palm on her spine, ushering her through into the living room.

Ricky hadn't even turned to see them enter. His back was to her, and she could see the glowing page he was reading over his shoulder. The living room was shadowed, but lit up in several corners by traditional Chinese lanterns. There wasn't much furniture; therefore this couldn't be Ricky's real house. 'What is her name, An Kwan?' Ricky asked, now speaking mandarin.

 _Why don't you ask her yourself?_ Li thought irritably.

The man behind her cleared his throat and looked down at her. Last night, she had gone over her undercover identity with the rest of Alpha Force. She was a fifteen year old orphan named Yu Cheung who lived in the streets and ate the scraps shopkeepers fed to her in pity. Although her lifestyle was not particularly healthy, she was very good at any work she was given, and that was how she had earned enough money to survive on the streets. Her strength came from the work she was given – heaving bricks and pieces of wood into trucks. Even with this work, she found she still couldn't get enough money for herself, so she was going to see Ricky for a ride to America with hope that she would be able to find better work there. 'Yu,' mumbled Li in a small voice. Ricky Chang sighed in irritation. 'Speak louder, girl,' he snapped. 'You won't get anywhere if you don't raise your voice.'

'Yu Cheung,' Li muttered again. Finally, Ricky spun to look at her in his chair, his eyebrows lowered into a frown. 'Yu Cheung, why are you here?'

'Because…' Li tried to look nervous, shifting her feet, and dropping her eyes to the floor. 'Because I want to go to America. I want to work. And I have heard you can get me there.'

'You want to work, do you? Do you have money?' Li reached into the hole of her pocket and pulled out a dozen notes of Yuan, holding them out to him with her head down. He took them and flicked through them, a disapproving look on his face. 'This isn't enough,' said Ricky finally. Li bit back her anger at his comment and instead shot her head up to look at him in fear. 'But sir! I need work! And I've always wanted to go to America!'

Ricky tutted, tucking the notes into his trouser pocket. 'Don't raise your voice, Yu. I suppose you can pay me back once you've started work.'

'Yes! Yes, I can!'

'Good. An, take her to the rest of them.'

The man behind her started to usher her out again, but Ricky stopped him, turning around. 'Tell the driver he can get going. I want them at the house before dark.'

'Yes, Mr. Chang.' An pushed her out of the room and started walking her across the hallway in silence. She noticed they were heading towards the back door. 'I'm going today?' asked Li in frightened Chinese, keeping her voice quiet and nervous.

'Yes, it seems so. Usually we'd let you stay one night here before the journey, but Mr. Chang seems impatient to get you all on the ship.'

'Oh.' They walked in silence until they reached the back door - a heavy wooden door with a screen on the outside to protect against mosquitoes. 'After you,' said An, pulling it back. She stepped through and blinked in the silvery light. There were leafless trees standing like guards on either side of the gate at the end of the courtyard and a large grey truck sitting in the center. Li swallowed as she came close, her nerves tingling with anticipation. An suddenly grabbed her hand and she turned to look at him in surprise.

She flinched at the sight of his face, the broken nose now bandaged up, a purple bruise on his cheek standing out against his sallow skin. In the house there had been shadows covering his face, so she hadn't seen him, but he had most definitely seen her. 'I know who you are,' smiled An in perfect English. He looked down at her, his dark eyes very familiar from their alley fight.

'You weren't arrested,' answered Li, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. If he blew her cover now, she wouldn't even be able to warn her friends. He turned his head to look back at the house and grimaced, straightening up. 'Go and get in the truck.'

'An - your name - it means peace,' said Li quickly, fumbling for words. She didn't know why she'd said it. It just felt right at that particular moment. He frowned at her. 'And Li means plum tree. So what?'

'Don't tell Ricky,' implored Li. 'Keep peace between us.'

'I don't need to tell him. The moment you get in that truck, there is absolutely no way of escaping. You'll die soon by yourself.' He smiled widely, showing mottled and yellow teeth.

'So you won't?' asked Li, trying to convince him by looking innocent. Ricky dropped her hand and shoved her into the courtyard and towards the truck. 'I never said that.'

In that moment, she knew exactly why he had seemed so familiar, and she gasped, her eyes widening fully. His grin instantly disappeared and he scowled at her, nodding towards the truck. She spun slowly on her heel and walked up to the truck, refusing to look back at him. She had to find a way to tell Alex, Paulo, Hex and Amber. They needed to know what a mess they were in.

* * *

Hex looked around at his friends. They were already bored, leaning back against their seats and watching out the windows without the slightest bit of interest. He wasn't far off himself. All he was hearing was Chinese - though he could tell the difference between Li, Ricky and An, Ricky's bodyguard. As they spoke, he was on a translating website, translating their sentences and trying to make sense of them. The conversation with Ricky finished and he stopped, looking up as he heard footsteps down the hall – most likely An's and Li's. 'Hey! Guys, they're taking her to the truck,' said Hex, just having finished translating the last sentence. 'They're going today!'

'What?' Amber exclaimed. She jumped out of her seat to see the translation. She was the experienced linguist of their group and was much better at translating. 'Well, we can follow them then, can't we?'

'Yes, we can,' said Paulo, climbing into the front seat as Alex settled into the passenger seat and turning on the engine. He was about to push the car into drive when Hex suddenly froze, his hand clenching around the palmtop. 'Crap. You'd better hear this.'

'What?' asked Paulo. Hex pulled the earphones out so they could all hear the words coming out from the palmtop. Li's voice was sharp and nervous. 'You weren't arrested.'

'Go ahead and get in the truck.'

'An - your name - it means peace.'

'And Li means plum tree. So what?'

'Don't tell Ricky. Keep peace between us.'

'I don't need to tell him. The moment you get in that truck, there is absolutely no way of escaping. You'll die soon by yourself.'

'So you won't?' asked Li, managing to add a tremor to her voice.

'I never said that.' There was a long silence, and all four members of Alpha Force froze, waiting for more dialogue. Then there was the sound of footsteps on concrete and after a few seconds the sound of an engine. In the background they could hear coughing and wheezing and a few low voices. Li's voice suddenly came on in a whisper - loud, as if she must be holding the locket up to her mouth. 'The man who was in the alley is here. The man who held the gun to my head.' There was the low hum of an engine being pushed into drive and Li paused before continuing. 'His name is An, and he seems to be Ricky's bodyguard. He knows who I am and I think he's going to tell Ricky. But he might not, so just stay on my tail - don't come in and try to rescue me.' Paulo swore silently under his breath, shaking his head. 'I hope she knows what she's doing,' he muttered. Amber looked worried, her face creased into a frown. 'Drive, Paulo. Let's get a head start on following the truck.'

'If that man escaped, what happened to the other two men in the alley?' asked Alex as Paulo pulled the car away from the pavement and switched the gear into drive, purring smoothly down the road. Hex already had an answer. 'They're in jail.' He turned the screen so that they could see the prisoner records he had zoomed in on. The pictures of the two men who had attacked them were familiar, and Alex nodded in recognition. 'That's them. How did the other one escape?'

'Obviously Li didn't beat him hard enough,' replied Hex, spinning the palmtop screen back so he could see. Amber smiled. 'Well, whatever you do, don't tell her that. She'll definitely beat _you_ hard enough.' Hex scowled, but he was secretly happy that he had lifted Amber's mood slightly.

Alex glanced sideways at Paulo, who was glaring at the road with a cold look in his eyes. It was very unusual attitude for the laid-back Argentinean, who had always seemed at ease in the past - in every situation, dangerous or not. Perhaps the boredom of their task was really getting to him. 'She knows what she's doing, Paulo,' said Alex. Paulo smiled briefly and looked at Alex for a second before returning his eyes to the road. 'I hope so, _amigo_. But we all know that she's very good at getting herself into trouble. She's - what do you call it…'

'Impulsive?'

'Yes, that's it. She doesn't ever think before jumping into things.'

'I believe she thinks more than you know. She just doesn't think enough.'

'Wow. Alex's words of wisdom,' retorted Amber from the back. 'I think I should write them down so that we can show them to Li when she returns.' Her comment lifted the mood, and all of them relaxed slightly. They would get Li back. They got her back last time, didn't they? Not in good shape, but they still got her back. Alex sighed and stared out the window. They'd have to get her back.

* * *

The stench was the worst factor inside the back of the truck. That and the incredible heat. Li was squashed up against another woman, who was sweating profusely, and her feet were in a puddle of what she knew must be urine. Vomit was also one of the scents in the air, and Li found it absolutely disgusting. It was almost exactly how it had been in that unimog driving across the desert with all those children the Scorpion had collected. How long had all these people been here? A whole day? They must have if they had already relieved themselves on the floor of the truck. She fumed at the thought of them being shut up in the darkness, squashed up against each other like animals in a too-small cage. If there was a chance, she would be the one to finish Ricky off. Then An. But he didn't play as big a part in this as Ricky. In order to move her thoughts from Ricky and her horrible surroundings, Li turned to the woman next to her. 'Hello. I'm Yu.'

'Jiang.' The woman's face was lined and streaked with dirt and sweat. She looked to be in her mid-thirties. 'You're the girl who just got here, aren't you?' Her voice was crackly from possible days without water.

'Yes.'

'You look healthier than the rest of us.'

'It's just the lighting,' said Li quickly. 'How long have you been in here?'

'Some of us up to three days, but I've only been here for one.'

Li narrowed her eyes. 'That's horrible! Don't any of you want to get back at Ricky Chang for that?'

'What are you talking about?' Jiang stared at her. 'Ricky Chang is doing us a big favour by shipping us to America. If I lose this, I'll die here, and no one will notice. I'll just be another poor woman dead in an alleyway. Would you want to die like that?'

'No,' said Li quietly, shaking her head. 'No, I don't. But this is horrible. These conditions...'

'I would keep your opinions to yourself if I were you,' advised Jiang. 'For most of us, all we're going through is worth it. Everything in life has a price, doesn't it?'

'Yes. But…' Li trailed off, staring around her at the Chinese men and women gripping their seats, their faces strained with exertion and fatigue. 'Isn't this too much to pay?'

'Nothing's too much. You're young, but I thought that being poor would have taught you that.'

'I'm not an ordinary poor person,' said Li quietly.

'Well, you're young and pretty. I'm sure more people took a liking to you when they saw you on the street. But when you're older like me, you're just a nuisance. People wrinkle their noses at you and spit on the pavement by your feet. I'm going to America because I want to earn more money. I want to show those people that I'm better than they think – and I'm willing to work as hard as I have to in order to get to the top.'

Li didn't reply to that. She wished she could tell this lady the truth: that it was unlikely she would get the job she was aiming for and would end up in industries, working as a slave or as a prostitute. Even at her age, it was likely. But she didn't want to smash her hopes and dreams. Besides, that wouldn't help keep her undercover. Li closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall of the truck, surrendering herself to the tired darkness lurking at the back of her mind.

Someone touched her face lightly. Li opened one eye, her vision bleary, and frowned. A young child with black hair and eyes was crouching before her on the floor of the truck. It took a moment for Li to realize the truck had stopped, and when she did, she sat up abruptly. Jiang was still sitting next to her, though now she was drinking from a plastic cup. When she noticed Li was awake, she smiled warmly. 'You're the first out of any of us to sleep that long. You must have had quite a journey.' She chuckled and offered her the cup. 'You must be able to sleep anywhere.'

That was what Alpha Force had always said to Paulo. Li grimaced as she remembered her big Argentinean friend – probably the closest out of all her other friends. She hoped they were following. Li took the cup, as her throat was dry and scratchy from sleeping with her mouth open. The water was warm, but clear. 'When did the water get here and why did we stop?' asked Li.

'This is one of the checkpoints. Another of Ricky's houses. In an hour, someone will take us inside and we'll head out tomorrow to board the ship.'

'Oh. Why don't they just take us in now?'

'I don't know. Maybe they're setting the place up for us.'

'I doubt they are,' muttered Li under her breath.

'What was that?'

'Nothing. Was there any food?'

'No. We don't get any food until we get on the ship.'

'What?' snapped Li, her hunger pangs increasing. Jiang flinched, and Li immediately corrected herself. 'I mean, what? Why not?'

'Because he doesn't want us to vomit any more than necessary. We'll lose too many fluids,' explained Jiang. Or, Li thought, it was just because Ricky didn't want them throwing up all over his house. She nodded and looked down at the child who was still sitting in front of her. 'Who's this?'

The woman looked at the girl fondly. 'That's Zhang. She's ten. Her parents want to take her to America with them so she will be able to see it and live a better life herself.' Li winced, gulping hard, remembering the reason she'd gotten here in the first place. This child was about the same age as the boy in their class who had gone missing, and yet she was lucky enough to be traveling with her parents. Those parents didn't know that Zhang would probably be killed. Sometimes in the shipping of immigrants to America, the elderly and the too-young would be killed because they were not suitable for work. 'Where are her parents?'

'Here,' a small voice said near the front of the truck. Li turned, grimacing at the pain in her neck from sleeping with her head back against the wall of the truck, and saw a small, bird-like woman and a skinny man hunched up together, both looking sick and tired. 'I'm Ali, and this is Huang.' Li nodded her greeting and told them her name. An old woman sitting near the back cleared her throat. 'Mei.'

Li saw her dimly and nodded at her as well. The old man sitting next to her spoke as well. 'I'm Ho.'

Soon enough, names were being spoken all around the truck, and even Jiang was mystified by it, looking sideways at Li. 'You've lightened the mood.'

Li smiled and shrugged. 'Maybe I've just given them an excuse to speak and take their minds off the pain.'

'Good on you, then,' said Jiang. Once the names had all been spoken and Li had replied to them with her own, she leaned back and tried to sleep again, squeezing her eyes shut as if they could also block out the sounds, too. There were people moaning as well as coughing now, and more than one dry voice rasping to one another. She was just drifting off to sleep, her stomach aching with hunger, when the back doors of the truck suddenly flew open. A middle-aged man stood bathed in sunlight so bright it looked as if he was an angel. He must be the driver. Li squinted her eyes against the light and lifted her arms to her face, letting out a short groan before she could stop herself. Since she was right on the end of the bench, the man smiled at her. Though his smile wasn't genuine and something dark lurked behind it.

'Get out!' he barked. The immigrants began to climb out hurriedly but many of them tripped as their stiff legs refused to carry them. The man stood by the doors scowled and kicked at them when they fell over and they stood up quickly. Li got out after five others and she also found it hard to stand properly on the ground. Her whole body ached from sitting in such a small space for a long time and her stomach rumbled in complaint of hunger. She was sure the air she smelt around her was fresher than any she had ever breathed. Her moments of relief were broken as the man grabbed her arm in a fist and nodded towards the house. Though she was completely capable of beating him into a pulp, she held back her anger and walked with the others towards a short, squat grey building.

As she walked, she looked around; hoping to see the SUV and her friends parked somewhere. There were no cars. Maybe the other four members of Alpha Force had hidden themselves further down the road. She didn't know how long she had been in the truck, but it must have been the whole day. It was nearly night now.

She passed through the large mesh gates surrounding Ricky's house and followed the other immigrants down stone steps and into a garage. There were flat mats made from straw lined up on the floor, and no pillows. The room was as hot as the truck had been, but Li felt cold. As the immigrants busied themselves making their beds more comfortable on the concrete floor, Li lifted the tracking device up to her mouth like she had before and spoke a few words into it. 'We're at another of Ricky's houses. Are you close? I couldn't see you as we walked inside. Tomorrow we will board the ship – or were you listening when Jiang said…. never mind. Just keep on following. Please. For these immigrants' sakes as well as mine.' She dropped the locket back beneath her shredded clothing and walked over to a mat Jiang had saved for her. Ho, the old man she had met in the truck was standing off to one side of the room, looking over it blankly. He didn't have a bed.

Li nodded at him and gestured to her own. 'I don't mind sleeping on the floor,' she said. Jiang looked up at her. 'Are you sure?'

'I'm sure. Anyway, I slept on the truck. He needs sleep more than me.'

'Thank you, girl,' Ho said with a kind smile. 'A good heart is special. It's all you will need for work in America.'

Li shrugged and stepped over some mats to get to the edge of the room. Her stomach flared up again, rumbling even more than it had before. She wouldn't be eating until probably midday tomorrow, so she might as well set about ignoring it. She slid down to the floor and leaned her head back against the wall, her body drained from the day she had already endured. This undercover work was harder than the work she had done with the Scorpion somehow. 'Yu?' a small child's voice piped up. Li opened her eyes and saw Zhang once again sitting in front of her. 'What's the matter? Don't you have a bed?'

'I do,' said Zhang. 'Why don't you?'

'I gave it to the old man over there.'

'Why?'

'Because he needs to sleep more than I do,' said Li.

The girl was mystified. 'How do you know that?'

'Well, I don't. But I slept on the truck and I don't think he did, so I think it's a good guess.'

'But I don't want you to get too tired and die,' complained Zhang. Li frowned at her. 'What do you mean?'

'I had another friend who went to America. His name was Nianzu.'

Li's heart beat like a battle drum as she recognized instantly the name of the boy who'd gone missing a few days ago. Perhaps there was a way to save him after all. The girl continued, unaware: 'I asked the tall man if he was in America, and he told me he didn't make it.' Her eyes were shining with tears and her lips were trembling. Li, shocked, reached over to put an arm around her shoulders. So Nianzu was already dead, too late for them to save him. Li suddenly felt several years older than she actually was, comforting this poor young child after the death of her friend. 'I'm sorry,' said Li.

'It's OK,' said Zhang. 'Just promise you won't die too. Because you're the nicest and strongest out of all of us.'

'I promise,' said Li sincerely. 'Nothing will happen to me. Now go and sleep. Your parents are looking for you, see?'

Zhang glanced back over her shoulder and saw her mother looking around worriedly. She sighed and backed away from Li. 'OK. But remember your promise.'

'Sure.' Li watched as Zhang made her way over the mats to her parents and swallowed painfully. She knew she shouldn't be making promises, but she felt she had to. For Zhang's sake. Li slowly drifted off to sleep, her eyes fluttering to a close by themselves as her breathing steadied and darkness took over.

* * *

'Come on, Paulo. Onto the main road,' Amber urged, leaning over the back seat so she could see him and Alex at the front. 'Don't rush me,' he said. They had been following Li in the truck for three hours, now. Li had exchanged a few words near the beginning of the journey, but now all Hex claimed to hear through the earphones was coughing and moaning. 'We are on the right road, right?'

'Stop asking questions,' groaned Alex. 'You're turning into Li.'

'Am not. And may I remind you she's in _trouble_ and I'm asking questions because I'm worried about her?' Amber retorted, folding her arms and looking over at Hex. He was listening intently to whatever was coming out of his earphones.

'She's speaking again,' came his alert voice. They all turned to look at him with an exception of Paulo who had to keep his eyes on the road but managed to tilt his head slightly towards the back seat. 'They've woken up. And her tracker's not moving. The truck must have stopped. They're talking about… another lady is talking about a house.'

'Must be the other house Ricky was talking about when Li first went to meet him,' said Amber.

'Yes. The lady's also saying that tomorrow they will go to the ship.' He looked over Paulo's shoulder. 'How far are we away from the truck?'

'It's just on the next road-'

'Stop here, then.'

'What? Why?'

'Just stop!' snapped Hex. Paulo grumbled something under his breath, but obediently pulled over the SUV, turning in his seat to glare back at Hex. 'Why here?'

'Have you seen many cars here?'

'No,' muttered Paulo after a quick look around, 'But what has that got to with Li?'

'It's more likely they'll pay attention to our car if they see it. For our safety, we should stay here. We can see her tracer easily – we'll know if she gets hurt or moved.'

'Last time she gave her tracer to that boy – Hakim. How do we know she won't do the same thing again?'

'She's not stupid, Paulo. She learns from her mistakes,' said Amber. 'And even if she does, we'll know faster. There wasn't a sand storm to slow us down this time. There's nothing in our way.'

'But we do not know that yet!' protested Paulo.

'Paulo, I know you're worried about her – we all get it. Last time it didn't end well, and there's a chance this could end worse, but you need to think! Think about how we're going to get her out of there. Acting desperate and irritable isn't going to help us get her out and finish this off,' reasoned Alex. Paulo hung his head and sighed. He knew this – Alpha Force had been working together for a long time, and he understood that acting like a child wouldn't help them.

'I know. But this man – Ricky Chang – is more professional than the Scorpion. And if she gets on that ship we'll probably never find her again. She will arrive in some unknown location in a month or so and disappear. She could become a slave! Or even-'

'Paulo, we all understand the issues with this mission,' muttered Amber darkly. 'Just sit back and do something that will actually help Li – be quiet.'

Paulo slumped back against his chair and stared gloomily out of the window. Hex was still listening into the earphones. 'They've stopped talking, but in about an hour or so, all the immigrants will be transferred into the house. Someone should go and stand over there on the bend of that pavement and keep watch. Just in case something else happens.'

'I'll do it,' said Alex quickly. He had expected Paulo to say he did as well, but he was still silent. He obviously thought it was a better idea to stay in the car in case Hex heard something important.

As he climbed out of the car, Alex stretched his legs and his back and groaned. They had been in the car for hours – stopping only once to buy lunch. Li hadn't eaten anything and had been in that truck for even longer. Alex swallowed down his relief and replaced it with a guilty feeling. He felt as if it was his fault she was in trouble again, but he knew it wasn't – it couldn't be. It had been her choice both this time and the last. Not his.

As he made his way over to the pavement, Alex rested his hand on the holster he had once again slung around his hips. His knife gleamed in the sinking sunlight, and so did his survival tin. He kneeled on the corner of the pavement and peered round. Sure enough, there was the truck, resting next to a large, stylish house, nearly on top of the grass which covered the front lawn. It was big, but he couldn't be sure how many people could possibly fit inside. He hoped not many. The interior must be scorching and filled with putrid scents by now. More people, more suffering. He could see the driver leaning against the truck's flank, smoking a cigarette and talking to a big man with a sleek black dog by his side. It sniffed the road and panted, looking perfectly harmless, but Alex wouldn't want to mess with a dog that size in this life or the next. It walked close to the van and sniffed it, growling in disgust. Its owner barked an order and obediently the dog trotted back to his side and sat down. The man spoke a few more words to the driver and then turned and walked back up to the house, his dog trotting at his heels. Alex watched as the door of the house slammed shut and then settled down on the pavement, hiding partly beneath a towering hedge.

The driver finished his cigarette and pulled out another one, whistling to himself. Alex had no idea why the men were waiting before letting the immigrants into the house. Were they setting it up for them? Or were they waiting for something? He sighed and shifted on the hard concrete. This was going to be a long wait.

'They're getting out!' Hex said quickly. Paulo and Amber swiveled their heads to where Alex was still sitting on the pavement, peering around the hedge. He looked back at them and gave them a thumbs up. Paulo let out a breath of relief. Li was with them and okay. He almost wanted to jump right out of the car and run up to the immigrants to carry her away. But that was only a fantasy, and he had to concentrate on real life. She wasn't out of danger yet.

He settled on climbing out of the car and walking over to Alex in a crouch, peering around his head to see the flow of immigrants tripping and falling, only to be kicked to their feet again by the driver. Li was one of the first. Paulo spotted her immediately, stumbling out of the truck and steadying herself, covering her eyes with one hand to protect herself from the brightness of the sun. Her skin was smudged and dirty, and she looked extremely pained and exhausted. Her long black hair fell down to her waist in its usual plait, though it was tangled and sprinkled with fine dust. A middle-aged lady and a young girl climbed out behind her, their reactions similar. Li finally dropped her hand from her face and breathed in deeply, as if savoring the air. Then the driver caught her arm and pulled her along towards the house. The other immigrants followed like an obedient flock of sheep, trailing behind them wearily. Paulo hated how desperately the immigrants seemed to want to please him. They thought they were going to get good jobs in America; this was their only chance of survival. And it was sick. Paulo leaned back and shook his head, standing up and walking back to the car with Alex right behind him.

'They're not even putting the immigrants in the house itself,' muttered Alex in disgust once they had gotten in the car. 'They're taking them down to the garage. I suppose that's where they'll all stay for tonight.'

'But they'll have food and drink and beds, won't they?'

'Probably more like mats,' said Hex grimly. 'And the lady Li was talking to said they won't have food until they get on the ship.'

'What?' said Paulo, shocked. 'They starve them?'

'Apparently the immigrants think they can't eat because it will mean loss of fluids which cannot be replaced.'

' _Dios_ ,' growled Paulo. 'All these people are idiots!'

No one was used to Paulo being this angry, and to see him so was definitely not encouraging. He was always so relaxed – the one to break last out of all of them. 'Paulo! Be quiet!' snapped Amber. 'You're not helping!'

'We'll stay here tonight,' said Alex calmly, desperate to look at the brighter side. 'We can sleep in the car and keep an eye on the house at the same time. Tomorrow we can follow them the rest of the way to the ship.'

'Fair enough,' said Hex, pulling the earphones down onto his neck and stretching his back. 'Who's going to keep watch first? I've been at this all day and I want some sleep.'

'I will,' said Paulo. They all glanced at him, knowing he was the best choice because his worry would cause him to be the most vigilant. Alex nodded. 'I'll go next.'

'Hey!' Hex said suddenly. He quickly unplugged the earphones from his palmtop and they could all hear Li's whispered voice. It had been a long time since she had spoken to them directly, and the fact that she was doing so now gave them all relief. She told them she was in Ricky's house and that they were boarding the ship tomorrow – information they all already knew – and then asked them to keep following, for both hers and the immigrants' sakes. Paulo sighed. 'So we'll just keep following until they get on the ship?'

'Yes. We'll do whatever she recommends,' said Alex. 'And she doesn't appear to be in immediate danger right now, so I think it's a good idea.'

'All right.'

Their attention was suddenly returned to the palmtop again as they heard a little girl's voice speaking to Li in Chinese. Hex quickly opened the translating website but Amber held up her hand. 'Hang on. I know a little bit about what she's saying.' She narrowed her eyes, thinking. 'Something about Li giving her bed away to an old man who didn't have one.' She paused, listening to the youthful voice again, the rest of Alpha Force watching her closely. Then she suddenly looked up, her face a picture of surprise and sadness. 'Nianzu,' she said. 'He didn't make it. He was this girl's friend.'

They all looked at each other, unable to fathom that such a young child had been killed in this operation – and a child they had known, too. Nianzu had been one of their most promising students, able to speak in broken English without too much trouble. Now he was gone. The speaking coming through the palmtop's speakers stopped and Hex decided that must mean Li was going to sleep. He plugged the headphones back in again and handed the instrument carefully to Paulo, giving him a look that quite clearly said, _Take care of my baby or I'll take care of you_.

Then he put an arm around a still shocked-looking Amber to reassure her. Alex didn't quite know what to do – he glanced at Paulo and they shared a grim look. 'I'll wake you in an hour or two,' said Paulo. 'Get some sleep.'

'I don't think I can,' said Alex truthfully. He climbed slowly out of the van and stretched his legs. 'I'm going to watch the house until dark, then I'll come back.'

'Sure thing.'


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

Li woke with a start, her eyes already focusing on the garage door, which had been lifted open slightly, a man peeking through at the sleeping immigrants. From what she could see, the sky outside was still dark, so she had no idea what the man would be doing here. He stepped fully into the garage and grimaced at the smell of sweat and urine. 'Is there a Yu Cheung here?' he whispered. Li froze, her breath catching in her throat. What was this? The man stepped further into the room and started to raise his voice, but she stood up quickly. His eyes moved to her, and she flinched, recognizing the eyes of An, Ricky's bodyguard. He smiled slowly – the evil smile which told her he knew he had won. 'Come on then, _Yu_ ,' said An. She swallowed back her anger and fear and began to step over immigrants and mats to get to him. Once by his side, she glowered up at him. 'Couldn't hold yourself back?' hissed Li accusingly. 'You just had to tell him, didn't you?'

'Oh, I held myself back alright,' said An, still smiling. 'I've kept my word.' He held her wrist in an iron-strong grip and started to drag her out of the garage. She stared at him, confused, not even struggling. 'What?'

'Ricky found out by himself. And besides, did I ever tell you I was your ally? No, I didn't. If I told him about you, it would be because I hate you and I don't care about peace. I'd be able to sit back and watch while he kills you and your friends.'

'My friends? What are you talking about?' asked Li.

'Don't play that game with me,' snapped An, pulling her up the steps so she could see the house before them. 'I know they've been following us. And definitely don't play that with Ricky.'

'How did he find out?' asked Li, giving up. 'How did he know about me?'

'He recognized you when he saw you, despite the fact you're dressed in rags and look like a street urchin. So he did his research. And he asked two special people who told him all about you and your friends that day they followed you away from the café. So then he did more research and he found out how you and your friends met on that ship and were stranded on that Indonesian island. Of course, he didn't hear about all your crime fighting tactics until he did more research, but he got enough information about you and your friends to know you're not who you said you were.'

Li felt both her anger and her fear rising. She tilted her chin upwards defiantly, hoping Alpha Force was listening to this. She decided to go all out. 'And what about you? Does he know you were also on that island?' hissed Li.

An paused, and she could see she'd caught him by surprise. 'Ah, you've finally realized who I am,' said An quietly, stopping for a moment and smiling faintly down at her. His face sharpened just as quickly and he snorted. 'Of course he does. He knows I was a pirate as much as I know he's a human trafficker.'

Li refused to let it go. She hoped her friends could understand what she was trying to tell them through the transmitter. 'How did you get out of jail? You should have gone to jail with those two other pirates from the island. How did you escape?'

'Ricky Chang,' said An simply.

'What about Ricky Chang?'

'He's my brother!' snapped An. 'He told me that if he let me out of jail, I would have to work with him for the rest of my life, and I accepted.'

'You want to work for your brother for the rest of your life? Seriously? How's working for him forever any different to being in jail?'

'Shut up.' An was seething now, and he shoved her up more steps.

'If you let me go, everything could work out fine,' persuaded Li. 'Make it even between us, An. Please.'

An snarled and shoved her against the screen door of the house. She reeled from the contact, but she wasn't hurt. In the next second An had bent to whisper into her ear. 'I can't. Those two people in there will never be saved if I let you go.'

Li swallowed as he leaned away, wondering why he'd told her that. Was he on her side or was he her enemy? And who were these two people he was talking about?

The main door had already swung open behind her, and a large cross-breed guard dog was standing in front of her, separated only from the mesh. It sniffed her, eyes bloodshot and menacing, and then began to bark, growling in between each outburst. A large man behind it grabbed its collar viciously and snapped at it to be quiet. The barks died down immediately and the man grinned up at An. 'Is that little rat causing you trouble?'

An shook his head and opened the screen door, shoving Li unceremoniously inside. 'Not at all.'

Li looked off down the street before it disappeared from view, her mind screaming what her mouth could not. _I'm in danger! Come! Come now! Please! Ricky knows who I am - who we all are! Help me!_

An shoved her through into a long white corridor which opened out into a beautiful modern living room, furnished with mahogany wood and cream-coloured carpets. She stopped and managed to get a good look around before the man with the dog at his heels and An began to drag her towards the lounge. They dropped her to her knees once in the centre, right at Ricky Chang's feet. He glanced down at her with a mixture of disgust and amusement. 'Yu Cheung. Hello.' He glanced down at some papers in his hands. 'Or would you prefer I call you Li?'

'Hello,' replied Li through her teeth, glaring up at him. He smiled a snake-like smile, ironic since he was a snakehead, and looked past her at where the two other people An mentioned must be sitting behind her. She started to turn her head, afraid of who they might be – who would give Alpha Force away? Maybe it was the organizers at the school, or maybe it was someone Alpha Force had run into in the past who bore grudges.

'Mr. and Mrs. Cheong,' said Ricky pleasantly. 'Would you come over here?'

Li's body froze; her heart nearly stopped beating as her breath caught in her throat. All her muscles and her bones began to ache in both love and pain as she turned her head completely and saw her parents neatly restrained by two more of Ricky's men. They looked worn out and bedraggled, not hurt, but still Li couldn't help the surge of anger and protectiveness which rose with the sight of them.

'Li…' whimpered her mother, her eyes brimming with tears. Her parents were zoologists who travelled the world; their bravery had been passed on to Li through blood and influence. Seeing her mother cry, which she so rarely ever did, was a sickening thing.

Li felt a sudden wave of black anger and she launched herself to her feet, spinning towards Ricky with a dangerous glint in her eye. Her foot caught his nose before anyone in the room could even move, and just as her foot reached his stomach, An's arms grabbed her from behind and held her back. She struggled fiercely, shouting obscenities at him and swearing loudly. Ricky held one hand to his nose as blood poured around it, her eyes locked darkly on her face.

'Put them in the truck and start driving,' said Ricky to the big man with the dog. 'Me and An will come later. I've got some things to sort out before I follow.'

By things, Li knew he meant Alpha Force. She started to struggle once more, tears now running down her face, and the man began to take her from An's arms, but Ricky Chang stopped him with one hand. He stood up, removing his bloody hand from his still-spurting nose and walking up so close to her she could smell the last meal he'd eaten on his breath. He reached to her neck, and at first she thought he was going to strangle her, but instead, he jerked his hand away and she could see her locket resting on two of his fingers. He smiled, and then hit her hard across the face. She cried out despite herself and almost fell, her cheek stinging and aching. 'The next time you try to fight back against me, you won't be the only one paying the price,' snapped Ricky, glancing at her parents pointedly before straightening and composing himself.

The man finally began to drag her out of the house, Ricky's two other men also bringing her parents behind her. She felt the dragging weight of failure, fear and grief in her heart. She and her parents were going to be taken somewhere and soon killed – Alpha Force wouldn't know where and wouldn't be able to save them, and the immigrants downstairs in the basement would never be saved. The mission wasn't Alpha Force's anymore; it was Ricky's. It had officially failed.

* * *

Paulo woke with a start and realized he had fallen asleep with the earphones in. It was already nearly sunrise, and he had forgotten to wake Amber up for the next shift. _Dios_.

Something could have happened while he was sleeping! He looked down at Hex's palmtop and saw Li's tracker still in the house. He managed a sigh of relief. She was still there. Everything would be fine. He looked around at his sleeping friends and then climbed out of the car, stretching his legs and walking slowly over to the hedge to peek around. His heart stopped in his throat.

The truck wasn't there.

The truck had been there all last night as long as he was awake, waiting for the immigrants. How could it be gone? He quickly looked down at the palmtop again but Li's tracker was still in the same place. He swallowed back a curse and hurried back to the car to wake the others up. Amber immediately started grumbling at him about the fact he hadn't woken her up for her shift, and Alex was about to join in when Paulo shoved the palmtop in their faces. 'There is something wrong! The truck is gone but Li's tracker is still in the house!'

'What?' Amber grabbed the palmtop and set it on her lap, ignoring Hex's mistrusting gaze. 'He's right,' said Amber slowly. 'But that doesn't mean anything, does it? They could have just taken the truck for a clean out before coming back to take the immigrants to the ship.'

'Unlikely,' muttered Hex. 'I don't think either the driver or Ricky care whether the truck smells like urine, vomit and sweat. Neither care what the immigrants think.'

'So what are you suggesting?' asked Paulo.

'I'm not suggesting anything. I was just disagreeing with Amber's idea. The truck wouldn't have been moved because of the immigrants. Maybe it's because of Ricky. Perhaps he thinks someone's watching him.'

'Or they've found out who Li is,' said Alex worriedly. 'And they put her in the truck to take her somewhere else while her tracker was left in the house as a red herring.'

'How would they find out? She's a good actress,' pointed out Amber. 'And there's no one other than Ricky's bodyguard who could tell him who she is - and he didn't seem to want to.'

'Hex, is it possible to… what's the word?' Paulo winced, his language failing him due to exhaustion, and then his eyes lit up. 'Rewind? Could you listen and hear if anything happened during the night?' They all stared at him.

'But surely if you kept the shift to yourself, you were listening the whole time?' questioned Amber, sounding unsure, her dark eyes glinting dangerously. Paulo slumped his shoulders, ready to take the blame if something bad happened to Li. 'I fell asleep. That is why I did not wake any of you up.'

There was a long pause as the rest of Alpha Force took this in. Then Hex jumped up, snapping into action. 'Yes, I can rewind it. It'll just take a second,' he said. He snatched his palmtop from Amber's lap and began to swipe his finger across the mouse pad, tapping a few codes into the tracking program as he rewinded back to the beginning of the night. While they were waiting, Alex noted Paulo's depressed expression and sighed. As angry as he was at laid-back Argentinian for putting their friend in danger, he knew all too well the feeling of guilt. 'It's alright, mate. We all make mistakes. And we'll get her back in the end – you know that.'

'But she might not be alive,' murmured Paulo quietly. 'What if-'

'She'll be fine,' said Alex, sounding confident, although inside he felt a pang of fear for his friend in the field. After one year in the army he already knew that feeling better than any of the other soldiers in his squad, something that made him stand out. It wasn't something he was particularly proud of.

Paulo shook his head, unbelieving, and turned to peer over Hex's shoulder. 'Here,' said Hex suddenly, green eyes brightening. He unplugged the earphones from his palmtop again and set it on the seat next to him so they could all hear. 'Is there a Yu Cheung here?' The moment they heard the whispered voice, Hex's eyes narrowed and he looked up at them. 'It's Ricky's bodyguard. The man who knew who Li was.'

' _Dios_ ,' Paulo whispered. Then followed a heated conversation about how An couldn't keep her secret to himself even though he had said he would. 'And what about you? Does he know you were also on that island?' she hissed.

'Ah, you've finally realized who I am,' he spoke in a quiet voice.

All of Alpha Force leaned in, their eyes wide as saucers. They had already heard about the two people who had given Li's true identity away. Paulo had sworn loudly at that part, and only Hex had managed to shut him up with a glare, pointing at the palmtop's speakers. Now, they were about to find out who this mysterious bodyguard of Ricky's was. The man who had attacked them in the alley and had somehow escaped being thrown in jail. 'Of course he does. He knows I was a pirate as much as I know he's a human trafficker.'

All of Alpha Force froze and stared at each other.

'How did you get out of jail? You should have gone to jail like the others! How did you get out?'

'Ricky Chang,' he said simply.

'What about Ricky Chang?'

'That is none of your business.'

'You've made it my business! Tell me!'

'He's my brother!' snapped An. 'He told me that if he let me out of jail, I would have to work with him for the rest of my life, and I accepted.'

Amber choked out a noise of surprise and anger. 'So this is the ass who tried to kill Phillipe, his family and us on that island?'

'It seems so,' said Alex faintly. 'Is it me or is it too much of a coincidence that he's here?'

'Li…' muttered Paulo. 'Remember that night before she began the mission, when she was acting unusual?'

'Yes,' the other three members of Alpha Force spoke in unison.

'He was who Li was fighting in the alley. She must have known. He must have shown to her who he was somehow. I think you are right, Alex. This cannot be a coincidence. This man is here at this particular time for a reason.' He looked at them all in turn. 'I think he knew we would come to China and get mixed up with Ricky.'

'How would he know that?' asked Amber, raising her eyebrows.

'I have no idea,' sighed Paulo. 'But I want him locked up once and for all or dead. And I will not stop until that happens.'

'Amen,' said Amber, nodding in agreement. The rest of Alpha Force also nodded their heads meekly, just as a bullet ripped through the air towards their car and smashed through the windshield.

Amber shrieked, Alex shouted in surprise, and Paulo and Hex flinched. The fight was on.

Paulo and Alex climbed out of the car and ducked down below the wheels. Alex pulled his knife from its holster, obviously pained from having to use it on these great big thugs. They didn't have a gun; they had never expected to be attacked on an undercover mission. So their assailants had large advantages.

Hex stayed half in the car, and half out, ducking low so he couldn't be seen and at the same time shielding his palmtop from the action. Amber was doing the same, but she was also rifling around in the car for weapons of any sort. There were sweets and sandwich wrappers, empty bottles and Alex's phone, and lots of dust. Nothing else. Amber considered using one of the bottles to beat the firing men like Alex had apparently done in the alley fight, but the bottles were too light and small to inflict enough damage. She looked over at the car keys hanging from the ignition and slid them out quickly. Jamming them into an eyeball or scraping them against skin would have to be good enough for now. Outside, Alex had managed to peek over the bonnet of the car and get a good look at their attackers without being shot. They were both big and burly, and he recognized one of the men who'd had that dog the day before. The other man was indiscernible, but Alex saw Ricky standing behind them immediately. He wore comfortable trousers, a white shirt, and a button-up coat, and was standing with his back straight, his expression calm as if he was watching a ballet rather than a couple of killers attempting to assassinate a group of four teenagers. The man – An – was standing behind him, looking uncomfortable. Alex was glad to see slight bruising on Ricky's nose, even though he didn't know where it had come from.

Where were all the people in this part of town?

Alex glanced around, but all the houses were empty or broken-down and therefore unoccupied. Ricky had done a good job picking this house. Paulo looked over at him and shrugged, lifting his hands helplessly. What would they do? They couldn't hide behind the car forever. And Amber and Hex were still stuck inside. Alex wondered if it was possible to run up to them without them noticing. He glanced round the bonnet again, narrowly dodging a bullet which whizzed past his ear. No. It wasn't. But with nothing else to do, he had to at least try. After all Alpha Force had been through, Alex still felt like he was the leader of the team – maybe first it was something to do with the SAS skills he had learned from his father, but now it just seemed to be because his ideas and opinions were useful to the group, and because he was willing to give up everything to save them all. He wasn't alone on that prospect: all of Alpha Force would do anything to protect each other. So, if Alex died now, at least it would be to protect his friends.

He swallowed hard, and then looked back at Paulo, who nodded grimly. Alex looked around and saw an upturned dustbin nearby. It wasn't nearly big enough for him to hide behind it, but he could carry it and shield himself from bullets. He peeked around the bonnet again, and the bullets suddenly stopped flying. The two men were reloading. This was his chance. Alex jumped to his feet and sprinted the dustbin, his body nearly shivering in anticipation of bullets which could rip through his body at any moment. He got the bin just as he heard the men lift their guns. He threw himself behind the dustbin and lifted himself up just as bullets began to attack the ground all around him, and he could hear bullets inside the dustbin as they ripped through its walls. He cringed and tried to crouch behind it, feeling sick.

Suddenly, a searing pain exploded through his foot. He was hit.

Alex aimed his squinted eyes down at his leg and saw his barely visible sock already soaking with dark, thick blood. He bit his tongue to prevent himself from screaming out in pain and hunched his body up so small it was nearly impossible to imagine that really he was tall and gangly. The bullets carried on for a few more seconds until Ricky shouted at them and they stopped to reload, turning back to the car. Alex could see Paulo still hiding against the car doors.

'Are you okay?' Paulo mouthed. Alex managed to nod, and pointed to his foot. Paulo nodded as well. Then the bullets let rip – not at Paulo or Amber or Hex still hiding inside, but at the bonnet.

Paulo realized what they were trying to do almost immediately. He yanked open the driver's door and shouted at Amber and Hex to get out quickly. Amber flinched at his sudden appearance, but Hex simply looked at him grimly and then began to shift over the seat towards the door without lifting his body above the bottom of the window. Amber just sat on the passenger seat, frozen as he peered over the dashboard at the Ricky and his shooting men. 'Amber!' hissed Hex once he was crouched beside Paulo, his palmtop safely in its pouch at his hip. She didn't move, still frozen in the same spot. The bonnet was already steaming, and it wouldn't be long before it blew up, taking the rest of the car with it. Hex yanked open the passenger door, ignoring the fact that the men could now see him and shoot him, and reached in, grabbing Amber around the waist and yanking her out. One bullet hit the car's door, barely missing him, and Amber suddenly burst into action, grabbing his arm and dragging him into crouch beside her. Paulo was waiting for them. 'What were you doing?' hissed Hex into her ear.

'What were _you_ doing? You almost got shot!' countered Amber.

'I was trying to save your life,' said Hex. Amber shrugged, and then softened. 'Thanks.' Hex nodded.

' _Dios_ ,' muttered Paulo, staring at the car. 'It's about to blow.'

'What?' asked Amber, frowning.

'They were shooting at the engine,' he said. 'It's going to explode.'

'Crap,' said Hex flatly. Paulo grabbed their hands and yanked them after him, half-rolling half-running away from the car just as it suddenly exploded in a giant ball of flames and metal. Amber covered her ears, and Hex covered her body with his own, trying to shield her from the wave of heat which rippled over them. Paulo crouched with his head between his arms.

'Where's Alex?' Amber managed to scream. They all looked at each other, and then back at the flaming car and the fiery dustbin lying blackened on the road.

No. Alex couldn't be dead. Not after all this. His body wasn't there, was it?

Paulo felt his stomach writhe at the thought of losing another friend. Amber suddenly screamed, staring at something behind him. Paulo turned and saw a dark shadow silhouetted against the wall of a house by the bright flames of the fire. It limped forwards and grasped Paulo's and Hex's arms in his own, starting to pull them away and into the building. 'Alex! You're alive!' choked Amber.

'Yeah, but we have to get away from the car now. They need to think we're dead,' rasped Alex, pulling them through the broken door of the nearest house. They couldn't see Ricky and his men over the wall of flames and smoke, and hopefully that meant they couldn't be seen in return. They rested their heads back against the concrete, and Alex collapsed to the ground, gasping now from the pain. 'Thank God you're alive, Alex,' said Paulo in amazement, looking around the wall and pulling his head back as he saw the three men standing and watching through the curtain of smoke. He scooted forwards and took Alex's foot in one hand, knowing it was best not to remove the shoe. Alex did a great job of managing to hide his pain, but Paulo could see his face reddening with the effort of trying not to scream. His foot was bleeding a lot more than Paulo liked, turning his white socks a bloody crimson. There was a jagged hole in the top of Alex's shoe, but nothing at the bottom. Therefore, the bullet was still inside him. Paulo winced and looked up at Alex's face. 'We need to get you somewhere cleaner and with more supplies. A hospital would be best.'

'But Li-' Alex was cut off as Paulo ripped off a piece of his own shirt and began binding his foot tightly over his shoe, hoping to staunch the blood. 'I know. We need to find Li. She obviously doesn't have her tracker on anymore, and if we don't go now we won't find her. But you need proper medical care.'

'We should find a car first,' said Hex. 'And listen to the rest of the recording from her tracer. We didn't finish it. Maybe it'll tell us something useful.'

'Maybe,' said Paulo, attempting to sound cheerful but failing miserably. 'Come on. Let's go. We'll have to walk for a little bit. Are you okay with that Alex?'

'Yes,' Alex muttered.

'And I'll hotwire another car.'

'Great, something else illegal,' Amber muttered.

'Oh, don't worry, Amber. We'll leave a note,' Hex snorted. ' _I have stolen your car. You won't ever get it back – or if you do it will most likely be covered in bullet holes or blown up. Sorry. Yours sincerely, the mysterious car robber._ '

'That isn't even funny,' said Amber, scowling. 'I just meant… we don't want the police on our tail now, too, do we?'

'Who else have we got on our tail?'

'Ricky Chang and his men. Well, not really. But if they find out we're still alive, they'll definitely be putting us in some serious danger.'

'I've always been attracted to danger,' said Hex in a dreamy voice. 'I just can't help it.'

'Shut up, code boy,' Amber snapped, exasperated. She stood up, keeping out of sight. 'Let's see if they're gone.'

'They are,' said Alex. 'I saw them walk away and climb into a car. To them, we're dead.'

'So…' Hex looked up at them, a smile lighting up his face as he clutched his palmtop in his lap, showing them all the moving red dot on the screen. 'This idiot with Li's tracer is Ricky Chang?'

Paulo grinned for the first time since Li had gone undercover. 'Yes. That must be him.'

'The dumbass must have forgotten it was in his pocket,' grinned Amber. 'So? Are we gonna get a car and continue the chase?'

'You got it,' said Hex, jumping up. Paulo helped Alex up slowly and then looked at him worriedly. 'Think you can survive for now with just a bandage?'

'Yes. Of course I can,' said Alex, swallowing back a grimace of pain. He was holding on with all he had for Li. She had better thank him for this in the end.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

Li couldn't hold back the nausea which was rolling in waves inside of her. Once they were alone in the truck, her parents had hugged her and told her they loved her, and that they were sorry. She had noticed the painful bruises on her father's face, swelling and reddening his skin. He winced when she reached forwards to touch them. 'I'm sorry,' he said grimly. 'They were asking us questions about you and your friends. We didn't want to answer, but he tortured it out of us. I could have gone on for longer, but your mother couldn't take it anymore.'

Li found tears spilling over her cheeks again, and her father hugged her close to him, resting his chin on the top of her head. 'It's all right, Li. It's all right. We'll get back at him.' He paused. 'It was a surprise to hear what you've really been up to every holiday with those friends of yours.' He pulled back and she saw an amused glint in his eye. 'Crime-fighters? Really? Is that why you always came home from those holidays with cuts or bruises and why sometimes you ended up in hospital?'

'I…'

'You told us you and your friends got mixed up in these things, but you didn't tell me you did it on purpose.'

Li sighed. 'I'm so sorry dad. I wish I could have told you. Then you wouldn't have been mixed up in this.'

'Li,' said her mother, wiping tears away from her cheeks with both hands, face hardening bravely. 'Let the past be the past. Everyone makes mistakes, and I know you loved those friends of yours.' She smiled. 'If you'd told us what you've been up to we probably would have made sure you never saw them again.'

'But now we're all in trouble,' mumbled Li. Her mother hugged her and her father, sighing. 'Yes, we are. But at least we know your friends will be able to get us out of this mess.'

Li tensed, and then shook her head, knowing she must at least share the terrible truth. 'I don't think they will,' she said in a small voice. 'Chang said he was going to kill them.'

Her parents were silent for a long moment. 'I'm so sorry, Li,' said her mother in a stiff voice. 'But maybe there's still a chance…'

'I don't think so. They were following me, using the tracer hidden inside that locket which Ricky took from me. They were just around the corner. They won't even know I'm gone and they definitely won't know Ricky's going to kill them.'

'They'll take care of themselves. How many times have you escaped from danger alive?' asked her father.

'I didn't count.'

'Well, all I know about you and your friends is that you all work well together. That might just save you this time.'

'Maybe.' There was a long period of silence as they concentrated on the speedy driving and the change from rough to smooth road under the truck's wheels.

'We must be on a highway,' said her father faintly. Li looked at him, and then frowned. 'Father?'

'Yes, Li?'

'How did they come and get you and mum? How did they find you?'

'I don't know. We were sleeping, and suddenly glass was smashing everywhere, and we were being ripped out of the bed. They must have sedated us, because I don't remember a thing after that. We woke up in the house we just departed from and Ricky Chang asked us questions we didn't know the answers to.'

'So An did tell him,' muttered Li, clenching her hands into tight fists.

'An? Who's An?' asked her mother, sounding confused.

'The man who brought me into that room.'

'The tall, dark one who looked like he was in pain?' asked her father.

'Yes. And I knew him some time ago.'

'What do you mean?'

Li scratched her head. 'Remember how me and my friends met? The first time? When we got stranded on that island?'

'Yes, but what has that got to do with…'

'An was one of the pirates who had captured Philippe and his family.'

'What? Didn't all those pirates go to jail?' asked her father incredulously. She shook her head slightly. 'Not him. Ricky's his brother. He got him out as a deal – a deal that An will work for him for the rest of his life.'

'The corruption in places like this is disgusting.' Her mother shivered.

'I don't think An is here because of that, though. I think he's here for a different reason,' said Li.

'Hmm?' her parents looked confused.

'I think he's here because he wants revenge on me and my friends. Him being here at the same time as me and my friends are investigating Ricky is too much of a coincidence. There something fishy going on.'

'I don't think so,' said her father, shaking his head. 'That wouldn't make sense. Maybe it is just a coincidence.'

'I don't know, dad. I don't know.' Li sighed and leaned against his chest, closing her eyes and surrendering herself to sleep for probably the fourth time.

* * *

The remaining members of Alpha Force were meanwhile waiting in an abandoned warehouse nearby to where they had escaped the blast of their exploding car – it must have used to hold metals, as there were still bars of aluminium lying around. Paulo and Amber were outside searching for cars, while Hex sat inside the warehouse with Alex, listening into the tracer and following its dot down unknown roads. Hex had Alex's foot suspended on his lap, trying to reduce the loss of blood, but Alex was definitely looking fainter now than he had before. Hex tried not to think how painful it must be.

He tried to concentrate on the tracer. Through the earphones, all he could hear was the car driving. Earlier, when they had arrived at the warehouse, Hex had discovered that while they were trying not to get shot, he had accidentally clicked the delete button, destroying all past history of conversations on Li's tracking device. He was now the new subject of all of Alpha Force's anger, leaving Alex to concentrate on his shot foot. Since they didn't have anymore evidence, they would have to rely on what they would get from Ricky in his car.

Outside the warehouse there was the sound of a low, rumbling engine as a vehicle drew up, and Hex and Alex lifted their heads in curiosity and fear. Then Amber poked her head in through the doorway and grinned. 'No need to look so scared. It's just us.'

'Believe me, you're terrifying,' muttered Hex. He stood up and helped Alex to his feet, providing him with a shoulder to lean on. 'Well, you're a wimp,' she countered. 'Anyway, me and Paulo found a car. It's outside. Come on.'

'Let's go,' mumbled Alex. Hex helped him limp out of the doorway and climb into a rusted old van which smelled like fried noodles and was littered with receipts and newspapers. Alex lay across one of the bench seats, closing his eyes and resting the ankle of his injured foot over his shin to protect it from getting bumped. Amber and Hex sat on the other bench seat, slumping back against the walls of the van in exhaustion. Hex looked down at his palmtop and then across to where Paulo was watching them in the rearview mirror. 'Come on, Paulo. Let's go get Li.'

'All right. Strap yourselves in,' said Paulo, pushing the gear into drive and pulling away from the pavement. 'Or, if there are no seatbelts, just hold tight to you seats. This might be a little bumpy.'

An hour later they were still on the road. Alex was looking a little paler, and although Paulo had suggested they pull over so he could give him proper treatment, Alex had declined, determined to get to Li before it was too late. They had driven over a patch of dangerously bumpy road, and Alex had grimaced the whole time. Now, though, they were on a highway, following the tracer of Chang's car with determination they hadn't had for a long time. They were all desperate to find Li before something bad happened to her. What if something already had happened? Paulo shook the thought out of his head firmly. No. She was stronger than his mind was making her. She could protect herself against everything. 'Hey!' Hex jumped suddenly, almost landing on Alex's foot. 'What? What is it?' asked Amber, desperate for good news.

'All the memory is back! I had to pull a few strings, but… it's back! I'm going to rewind and see what happened-'

'I'll help!' interrupted Amber quickly, scooting over the passenger seat and into the back so she could sit beside him. Hex shot her a confused look, but allowed her closer as he unplugged the earphones and began to rewind the data to a few hours before.

'Crap,' he said, stopping the rewind suddenly so he could make sure what he had heard wasn't a delusion. Amber frowned at him. 'What is it?'

'Her… her parents…' He paused, face whitening. Paulo's head shot up and he whipped around to stare at them. ' _What_?'

'They've got her. Ricky must have found out who Li was, and who we are, and… he captured her parents.' He listened for a little longer. 'He put her with them on the immigrant truck. At least we know how Ricky knew what Alpha Force was. He captured her parents and forced them to tell him information about us.'

'He wouldn't have been able to get them to give away their own daughter without…'

'Torture,' finished Paulo tightly. He'd met Li's parents before and was as fond of them as he was of Li. If anything happened to any of them…

'He's not a stupid man. He knew they had information about Li and about us, and used them to give him that information to bribe Li. She can't do anything now, or they'll just kill her parents.'

'Then hurry _up_ , Paulo! Let's catch up to them, shall we?' hissed Amber.

'I'm already hurrying!' he snapped. 'Can you not see that?'

'Just… try and go a little faster!' She wasn't the only one who was frustrated. Now, with this new piece of information in their minds, it was an emotion they all felt. 'The truck is stopping,' said Hex. 'It turned off the highway and into a little fishing village. It's stopped right next to the sea.'

'Oh great,' said Alex through his teeth, grimacing as the car began to vibrate in increasing speed. 'Now we're going to have to take a boat as well. I'm not sure I'd be able to take a _plane_ with this foot.'

'If we're fast enough,' said Amber pointedly, glaring at Paulo, 'we'll get there before they do whatever they're gonna do to Li and her parents.'

'You know what? Why don't you take the wheel?' growled Paulo, spinning to glower back. Uneasiness took over her face and mock fear took over Hex's. 'Oh, for God's sake don't do that to us, Paulo. Alex will be screaming the whole way-'

He narrowly escaped a cuff on the head as Amber half launched herself towards him, reaching out to hit him.

'Well someone else drive then!' snarled Paulo, ignoring their turn to playfulness. He was being serious.

They all stared at him. His eyes were dark with anger and worry; his face contorted into a stiff grimace. His tanned hands, rested lightly on the steering wheel, were shaking, and they shook even harder when he lifted them, swallowing painfully. 'I'll take over, mate,' said Hex quickly, gently setting his palmtop into Amber's hands and climbing over into the passenger seat. 'Are you all right?'

Paulo shook his head, his skin looking ashen as he clambered out of the driver's seat, allowing Hex to scoot over into it and take the wheel. Hex had never thought anything could make Paulo look like that. But apparently Li could. He had seemed fine before, when they were going to get her, but now that he knew her parents were with her, something about his natural calm demeanor had cracked. He sat uncomfortably down next to Amber – the ever-comfortable Argentinean – and laid his head back against the wall of the van, squeezing his eyes shut. His chest was rising and falling swiftly as he clenched and unclenched his fists. It was almost like he was in shock, Amber thought. They were all silent for a long time: Hex, watching the road and from time to time glancing back to see that Paulo was all right; Alex trying to sleep with his injured leg held tenderly above his other; Amber quietly watching Li's tracker as it came to a halt next to the blue of the sea on the map; and finally, Paulo, looking like a ghost as he pressed himself against the wall of the van.

Five minutes later, Hex was glad to tell them that they were finally off the highway and in the fishing village. Amber could visibly see the relief rush into Paulo's body.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

Li wasn't exactly sure what she felt as the back doors of the truck swung open and she and her parents were forced out into a rubbish-filled, grey-skied atmosphere looking out over the sea. The truck had literally parked right on the beach, its monstrous tires digging into the seaweed-strewn sand. Paulo would be marveling at its size if he were here. _But he's not_ , Li reminded herself firmly.

She was starting to realize now what a mess she was really in. It was unlikely she'd ever see him or any of Alpha Force ever again. She wanted to cry again but there didn't seem to be any tears left.

'Move!' the driver barked, nudging her back with the familiar cold hardness of a gun. She shivered and stepped forwards, her thin shoes filling with sand as she skidded slightly. The waves came up two metres from her toes, and she noticed for the first time the fishing boat parked on the water, moored only by a thin blue rope tied to a deserted piece of coral. Her father's bruised hand closed over hers and she looked up at him. His face was dirty and streaked with grey, but his familiar brown uptilted eyes she had inherited were still the same. Determined. Serious. Her mother took her other hand, and Li felt a sense of guilt. It was her fault they were here, and they were trying to make _her_ feel better. The thought made her feel nauseous to the point of vomiting in the sand.

The fishing boat was large enough to hold about fifty people if they were squashed up – it wasn't really made for little less that three people. This was the boat all her new immigrant friends would have taken with her on their way to slavery in America. Where would they go now? It was already full-on daylight and the immigrants were supposed to have left in the morning, but only Li and her parents had been in the truck, and she was sure only she and her parents would be in the boat. Ricky and the remaining men would be joining them soon, leaving the immigrants alone in the basement of the house, maybe finally understanding what they had gotten themselves into. Li again felt the urge to cry welling up inside of her, but she wanted to be strong. For her parents. For Alpha Force. She fiercely hoped Ricky hadn't found them and that they weren't dead, but she couldn't be sure. The aching in her chest which accompanied that thought was almost unbearable and she could feel fear bubbling up, but she forced it back down. She had cried for everything already – all her mistakes and her loved ones – and it was time to stop and face her own fate. After all, what more could she lose? At least her parents were with her.

They walked together up the ramp and into the boat. It smelt faintly of urine and stale sweat, like whoever had cleaned it hadn't quite cleaned well enough to get rid of the smell. There were fishing nets still attached to the boat, even though it was obvious that wasn't what it was used for. The driver and Ricky's bodyguard guided them around the front of the boat to the back, shoving them through a doorway and into a dark, airless room. The moment they were inside, the door was shut and bolted behind them. No chance of escape, then. Even if there had been, Li wasn't sure if she'd want to anymore. Alpha Force was probably dead, and she and her parents were going to join them soon enough.

Instead of panicking or springing into action like she might have if the mission had still been Alpha Force's, she felt along the walls in the darkness and found benches, pulling her parents down beside her. Her mother was shivering, and Li put her arms around her, trying not to breathe in too much sweat. Her father was also breathing heavily, but he seemed to be faring better. 'So are we going to try to… escape?' asked her father, running his hands through barely visible black hair. Li didn't answer, resting her chin on her mother's shoulder and struggling to hold back tears or hopelessness. He father rambled on. 'I mean, I'm not sure what you normally do with your friends – Alpha Force, or whatever you're called – but I thought looking for a means of escape would be helpful.'

'It would,' agreed Li quietly. 'But my friends are… dead. I'm not sure what we'd do anymore.' Just saying the word made her throat seize up in a violent sob and she shut her eyes tightly against the wave of grief.

'Honey, I am so sorry,' said her mother, her voice muffled. Li felt her father's reassuring hand on her shoulder, but it didn't give her any comfort. She could only remember the fact that Ricky had tortured information out of her parents. Because of her. Because of Alpha Force. Her voice shook when she spoke again. 'No. I'm sorry. Ricky will be here soon, and we'll be stuck in this room because I can't bring myself to use the skills I have to find a way out – even for you. I just… I've never felt this exhausted. I don't think I've ever felt exhausted in my life.'

'Oh, Li, my baby.' Her mother tightened her hold. 'Stop blaming yourself. If I was in your shoes, I wouldn't be doing squat. Me and you father don't blame you for anything.'

'But you should-' Li cut herself off as they all heard the rumble of an engine over the whooshing sounds of the sea against the seabed. 'Ricky's here,' she said tightly. 'And my guess is that Alpha Force is not.'

This time her parents didn't reassure her. She could feel their agitation through the movements of their bodies as they stiffened and sat up. The devil was here.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

Ricky climbed out of the car and onto the sand, stretching his legs. The boat floated before him, beginning to wobble as the tide drew further in and waves increased in size. 'An, lead on,' he said with a smile. The truck driver and Cho the dog man were standing on the deck, watching as their bosses climbed out of the car. 'Are they inside?' shouted Ricky as he strode towards them.

'Yes, and we locked them in. It's unlikely they'll even think about escaping,' said the driver, sounding proud of himself. Ricky was disgusted by the man's greasy smile. 'Are her friends dead?' added the driver curiously.

'You don't ask questions. You answer them,' said Ricky coldly. The driver looked down at his feet. Ricky looked at him with distaste. He had never liked that man. Too arrogant and full of himself, not the right material and never had been.

Well, there was always time to make sacrifices.

'Brother,' said Ricky softly. An turned to look at him, stopping before the ramp. 'Yes?'

'Kill him.' Ricky pointed at the driver with a short smile. 'And make sure his body will never be found. Put it in the room with the girl and her parents if you want. We can dump it later.'

The blood drained from the driver's face as he backed away, crashing into a box full of bottled water. An swiftly climbed up the ladder and then came to stand over the terrified man, pulling his gun calmly out of its holster and aiming between the eyes. The bang echoed down the beach, while only An could hear the splattering as the man's thick crimson blood covered the deck. An smiled down at him and then slowly spun to look at Ricky, a cold glint in his eyes. 'I love you, brother. You should know that.'

Ricky Chang's face contorted into an ugly frown of confusion. 'Excuse me?'

An lifted the gun again and aimed at his brother's chest, face devoid of emotion. 'Goodbye, brother.'

Another bang.

This time it was Ricky Chang who collapsed backwards onto the sand, blood dribbling from his mouth and eyes frozen wide in horror. An holstered the gun again and then unzipped the pack slung around his hips. Inside were pliers, scalpels and knives. Instruments of torture. Instruments of revenge. He kicked away the ramp savagely, whistling, and Cho backed away towards the railing, looking scared. 'Don't worry,' said An. 'I won't shoot you if you continue to do your job.' He smiled coldly. 'Chang's death was merely personal.'

The man shook his head in disbelief. 'He was your brother, your master-'

An's face contorted, lips slackening in revulsion. ' _Master_? Who do you think came up with the idea that we should get the girl's parents? Me. What about the group this girl was part of and where the rest of them were hiding? Me. Ricky Chang was never the master of me, little Cho.' He inclined his head round the side of the boat. 'Now, lead me to them before I change my mind and shoot you.' Cho jumped into action, spinning and trotting off round the cabin, monstrous dog quick at his heels. An followed just as swiftly, his hand hovering above his gun just in case.

* * *

'We're here!' exclaimed Amber, noting the relieving sight of the sea to their left as they rumbled down another road. She frowned down at Hex's palmtop screen. 'That's weird. The tracer's just stopped on the beach…'

'Well, it was in Ricky's pocket before, so maybe he realized he had taken it and threw it onto the sand to mislead us,' said Hex reasonably.

'Do you think the boat's already gone?' asked Alex. His face was chalk-white and slick with sweat, but he seemed to be faring better than he had before.

'Wait and see,' said Hex, pulling down onto the sand and waiting for the tires to bite in and drag them forwards.

They were all silent as he navigated over the dunes towards the sea until Amber suddenly stiffened. 'There!' she shouted. A body was lying flat on the shore, blood fanned out around it. A fishing boat drifted in the water opposite; unboardable, as the ramp was lying half-in, half-out of the water.

Paulo jumped out of the van through the back doors and sprinted towards the figure, desperately hoping it wasn't Li.

It wasn't. The relief hit him like a punch to gut.

He was blatantly surprised to see it was instead Ricky Chang's corpse. 'Guys!' hissed Paulo, beckoning to them. 'Get over here!'

Alpha Force had already clambered out of the van and had jogged up beside him. 'Is that… Ricky Chang?' asked Alex, leaning almost completely on Hex's shoulder. Paulo nodded and glanced up at the fishing boat. His eyes skimmed over its shape and condition and, as he watched, a middle-aged man came out from the cabin, his dark eyes cold and heartless but also… scared. They landed instantly on Paulo, and with a startled jump, the man launched himself back into the cabin and they heard the growl of the boat's engine starting. 'We've got to get on!' cried Amber. 'Li's on that boat!'

'How do you know?' inquired Hex.

'Why else would Ricky Chang be lying beside it, and why else would that man have looked so terrified to see us?' Amber began to run towards the boat, her heels digging into the wet sand. She didn't match Li with her climbing skills – no one ever would – but she could probably manage to get up onto the deck. Unfortunately, she probably wouldn't be able to fight off whoever was on the boat by herself.

Paulo grimaced and then began to run as well, the team's voices calling warningly after him. The boat was already backing away from the shore, slowly but surely dodging another small fishing skiff. With a jerk, it stopped, the anchor line stretching taut as the engine struggled to pull away from land. Amber grabbed hold of the line and began climbing up onto the boat, a fierce look of determination on her face. Paulo did the same, the rope burning into his hands as his powerful shoulders carried him up towards the deck. The man came out of nowhere, a sharp knife in his hand. With a yell he sliced at the rope just in front of Amber's hands, and it cut clean through. There was a short, weightless feeling of falling, and then Paulo's arms caught against something metal and slippery: a hook. He gasped and heaved himself up so his armpit was over it and the weight of his body wasn't only exerted only on his arms. He glanced around worriedly for Amber and spotted a dark-skinned body floating on its back closer to the shore. Her eyes were closed and there was blood spiraling away from a cut on her forehead. When she had fallen, she must have hit her head on something hard and fallen unconscious. Hex had already lowered Alex onto the sand and was wading in towards her, a stricken expression on his face as he neared her floating body. For a second, he stared up towards the boat and saw Paulo still clinging on. He managed to wave with his left hand, grimacing. Hex nodded grimly. They would get another boat and follow.

Paulo watched for a split second as Hex grabbed Amber's shoulders and looked down at her face in worry, then he had to turn back to the boat, the engines suddenly whirring and speeding up, causing his hands to slip. He felt his feet trail in the water as he twisted his armpit to stay aloft. The boat was turning towards the open ocean. Paulo gazed upwards and saw sloping metal. He was out of the man's field of vision, so he was safe, for now. With a groan, he reached upwards towards the rim, his muscles stretching, and his fingertips only just closed around the edge. He bit his tongue and let go of the hook, grabbing hold of the rim with both hands and swinging to and fro. Now he just had to pull himself up onto the deck. Paulo breathed in and out heavily, and then pulled himself up with a jerk, jamming his foot onto the rim and over the edge so he could roll onto his back, finally on the boat.

Alert, Paulo quickly climbed into a crouch and looked around cautiously. The man in the cabin wouldn't be able to see him where he was, so he was safe from him. But was there anyone else on the boat? And where were they keeping Li? Paulo crawled over the deck towards the cabin and stood up, easing open the door. The man hadn't heard it open; he was concentrating on the ocean as the boat turned a full one hundred and eighty degrees and began to move away from the beach. Paulo looked from left to right and saw a metal water bottle on the desk. He would have laughed at any other time at its irony, but now he was too concentrated to acknowledge the humor. He reached over and picked it up with one hand, hefting it as the man cocked his head and saw him out of the corner of his eye. Without waiting a split second, Paulo brought the bottle down against the man's elbow and he screamed, clasping it and crashing backwards into a window. The glass didn't break, but his connection with it had surely caused an injury of some sort because he nearly buckled over. Paulo grasped the front of his shirt and glared at him through narrowed eyes, slamming him backwards again as he tried to escape. Paulo was big, and he had well-developed muscles from working on his ranch in Argentina, but he had never liked violence very much – this was as new to him as it obviously was to this man. But desperate times called for desperate measures and he would do anything for Li. 'Is there anyone else on this boat?' asked Paulo over the noise of the engines.

'No,' said the man in accented English, his voice shaking. Paulo stared at him for a while longer. 'I don't believe you. What's your name?'

'Cho.'

'Well, Cho, why don't I believe you?' asked Paulo. Cho didn't speak for a moment, and then let loose a torrent of desperate Chinese and hand gestures which made Paulo press him harder against the window. 'Speak English. I know you can.'

'I can lead you to them,' managed Cho.

'First, tell me what happened.'

'What do you mean?'

'Why is Ricky dead? Did you kill him?'

'No… no…' Cho tailed off. 'An. An killed him.'

The pirate who was Ricky's slave and brother? Paulo raised his eyebrows in disbelief. 'Was it an accident?' asked Paulo, even though he knew the placing of the injury on Chang's chest had been far too accurate to be accidental. Cho shook his head slowly. 'Ricky told him to shoot the truck driver, and he did. Then he shot Mr. Chang.'

'So… it wasn't a coincidence that he was here while we were. An was behind all of this.' Paulo narrowed his eyes at the man. 'Where is An now? And where is Li and her parents?'

'An is with them in a room. He had a… a bag of tools. Of knives and things. I think he was going to torture them.' Paulo felt sick to the bone, imagining lines of blood drawn over Li's pale skin. 'Where are they?'

Cho flinched and swallowed. 'I will show you.'

'You will tell me.'

'I… I will show you,' stuttered Cho again. Paulo set his face and said, 'No, you need to drive the boat back to shore, do you hear me?'

'I will come,' repeated Cho, showing no inclination of having heard. Paulo sighed and shoved him hard, making the man cry out in pain. 'Tell me where she is!'

Cho's body shook as he tried to steady his breathing and overcome the pain. 'Walk down beside the… cabin and turn left into the small metal door. Behind it...'

'Thank you,' said Paulo. 'Now don't make me tell you twice – turn the boat around and take it back to the beach.' He began to pull away, but Cho caught his shirt with his uninjured hand. 'He will torture you too.'

'Get off me.'

'Your friend is probably already dead.' Cho's hand darted suddenly towards the water bottle he'd set beside them, honing in on the only weapon in the room, and Paulo acted instinctively. He punched the man hard across the face and watched as he fell limply to the floor.

The bottle fell to the ground with a clang and Paulo stepped away warily, realizing he had no idea how to drive a boat – how would they get out of here? He turned to the controls and saw the lever switched to full ahead. With a flourish, he yanked it back down to stop and felt the boat suddenly jerk beneath him, slowing abruptly. Paulo didn't wait for it to stop – he had to find Li before something bad happened to her.

* * *

Hex stared frantically down at Amber's face, noting that it looked slightly grey and sickly, her blood spiraling outwards into the water. He placed his hands on her shoulders and bent his ear down towards her mouth, relieved to hear she was breathing normally. Perhaps just knocked unconscious – she would likely have a concussion when she woke up.

He didn't know what it was, but in that second he suddenly felt overwhelmed by the sight of her there, looking like a beautiful princess floating in the water. He was about to pick her up and tow her back to shore where Alex was waiting when she coughed, spitting out water and struggling in his arms. When she opened her eyes, they were dazed but focused, and she smirked up at him faintly. 'Why are you staring at me like that? There something on my face, code boy?'

Hex grinned at her, suddenly feeling a hundred times lighter with relief. Instead of answering, however, he jerked downwards and kissed her full on the mouth. The exhilarating and liberating sensation of it was replaced instantly by embarrassment the moment he pulled away and realized what he'd just done. Amber was staring up at him with wide dark eyes, shocked. Hex cleared his throat and took her arm. 'Let's get you back to shore.'

Amber didn't say anything, lost for words for probably the first time in her life, making him feel even more embarrassed. Of course – although they were fond of each other, she probably viewed their relationship as platonic, didn't she? And he had to be the idiot who went and ruined it.

Alex stared at them as they waded towards him, and Hex knew he'd seen. 'What?' snapped Hex irritably.

'Nothing,' said Alex, quickly changing the subject. 'Paulo's managed to stop the boat – look.' He pointed at the horizon, where they could see it bobbing on the waves.

'We need to get a boat and head over to give him backup,' said Hex. He paused, considering. 'Actually, _I_ need to head over and give him backup. You two are far too out of it-'

'I'm coming!' said Amber quickly, her expression determined. 'You can't stop me.'

Alex sighed, leaning back on the sand. Hex's palmtop was resting gingerly in his hands, and he gestured with it. 'I'll stay here and call John Middleton,' he said. 'You two go and help.'

Hex nodded and then turned towards a small fishing skiff floating nearby, Amber following him. They jogged over together and Hex used a rusty ladder barred to its flank to climb up, checking that it was drivable. Luckily, it was. Paulo had taught him enough about hot-wiring engines for him to be able to sort this one out. He turned to help Amber up beside him and she sat gingerly on one of the stools, wrapping her arms around herself, remaining uncharacteristically silent. He had no time to worry about this, however; Li was in danger. It took Hex three minutes in total to hotwire the skiff, and he felt a grin rising to his face as its engine flipped into submission, rumbling smoothly. Carefully, he eased forward the throttle, and at once they began moving away from the shore. Before they sped away, Alex called, 'Be careful!'


End file.
